Aliens: untitled
by FallenTurtles
Summary: A devastating raid on a smugglers' colony leads to further disaster with the discovery of the 'Alien' species.
1. Assault

Chapter One: Assault  
Horizontal rainfall was something most humans never saw in the span of their lives. Earth supported fairly moderate weather patterns when compared to the countless number of other worlds in the galaxy. The clouds had formed a vast wall in the extreme heights of the night sky, tarnishing whatever light managed to seep through from the deep orange moon above. Deep magnetic fields created by the atmospheric disturbances began to play games with the flight instruments. Gauges flew to their sides as various display screens began to show nothing but static.  
"Son of a bitch, how the hell are we supposed to make this drop?"  
"By shutting up and keeping your eyes open, they said they charged the floodlights, we'll see them soon enough."  
Gripping her tightly strapped helmet, Sarah Canter shook her head violently in a masochistic attempt to ease her stress. Her flight suit was beginning to cause her skin to itch and her feet to sweat. She cursed the man who claimed these boots allowed the best breathing to date. Alerted by a nervous hum from her partner, she put her eyes back on the blackened world outside the cockpit. "My feet are going to smell like shit."  
"They already smell like shit, watch what you're doing."  
A middle aged, gruff man sat next to her, gripping his support rail with more muscles than his body should allow. Beads of sweat began to fall in front of his eyes as he stared into the black void ahead. "Let's just keep this a clean drop, shall we? I would rather avoid another incident like LV-229."  
"That was not my fault and you know it! That beacon was off by 3 marks at least!"  
"Your excuses may have helped when the investigation began, but it won't fly with me, pilot. A four-alarm hangover usually has nasty side effects that can make piloting a state-of-the-art atmospheric flier somewhat difficult. Occasionally the services rendered."  
"Just shut up already, okay? It happened once, just."  
"Twice, my dear, twice."  
"Fine, twice."  
"On the same mission."  
"Yes, on the same mission. Fuck you."  
Captain Christopher Hayes smiled and smacked Canter's helmet, "Shut up and watch the sky."  
The dropship leveled with the horizon and began a light descent towards a series of lights. The atmospheric beacon was useless due to all the interference from the storm, yet Canter managed to fly the vessel with flawless precision. The lights grew large and surrounded the ship. Canter gently eased the vessel down without any problems. The drop door on the underside of the ship descended, unaffected by the dozen Marines that ran out as quickly as possible. After a total of eighteen Marines had left the vessel, Canter brought it to an altitude of forty-five meters. A loud hissing noise penetrated the ambient noise of the rain. Canter looked towards Hayes and smiled sadistically, "One-hundred credits says this will do more damage than anything I caused on LV-229."  
Without taking his eyes off of the target, Hayes smiled and nodded approvingly. Canter struck a button and watched as six rockets flew from their casements and breached the outer wall of the compound. A pillar of smoke arose as the Marines rushed in, weapons already firing. Nervous chatter on the Marine radio was interrupted by angry voices asking for an explanation for a violent attack. Canter pressed a button to acknowledge the administrative staff of the compound, "Surprise! I think we forgot to mention we aren't actually with the OCAA."  
A slight pause ended with a nervous voice on the comm, "Who are you with?"  
"United States Colonial Marines, have a nice day."  
Static was all Canter received in return. She smiled and pulled on the stick, sending the vessel into the sky. As she took the vessel over the compound, another dropship replaced hers and deposited another dozen Marines onto the planet side. The ship lifted and follow Canter. A large tower filled with blinking navigational lights gleamed in the distance. Canter laughed as she fired several more rockets and watched as the other ship did the same. The tower collapsed in a disastrous explosion as the rockets hit, sending sparks and cables everywhere. The ships hovered in the air as the tower crumbled to bits in front of them.  
"The night is young, Sarah, any ideas on how to keep ourselves entertained?"  
"Shut up, dickhead. I'm not that kind of girl."  
"Fuck you, Pilot. But you're right, you're not my kind of girl. I prefer the sober ones."  
"Really? I would have thought your only chance would be with the drunks."  
"No such thing as a drunk anymore, you swallowed all the liquor."  
"Well those poor girls needed someone to make sure you never got to them."  
Hayes laughed and responded heartily, "Checkmate, Canter. Now get us the fuck out of here. I'm tired."  
"With pleasure."  
The dropship headed into the atmosphere, followed closely by the second. The Marine comm. Blared loudly with the sounds of gunshots and laughter. It seemed as though the Marines were having little trouble overtaking the compound's security.  
"It isn't typical procedure to pull back to the ship after a drop."  
"True," Hayes responded, "but it also isn't typical procedure to drop thirty Marines on a virtually defenseless compound selling a few space fighters on the black market. Their only hope would have been to take out our dropships or an APC if we had used one. Those fighters definitely would have cleaned us off the map. Luckily black market merchants aren't too good with GCC code recognition."  
"That's HCC, dumbass."  
"Funny, your brain still retains memory after all the alcohol."  
"My ass could retain a term we've learned for years on end."  
"Really? Then what does it stand for?"  
"Fuck you, that's what."  
The dropship slowly approached the stationary cruiser hanging several kilometers above the planet's surface. The Dantrol's hanger doors opened as the dropships gently glided in and docked.  
Hayes followed Canter out of the cockpit and slapped her on the behind before turning to walk away. After taking four steps he felt a sharp slap as Canter's helmet collided with his back. As he looked back at her, her eyes darted to the ceiling as she began whistling, clearly stating her innocence. Hayes smiled and continued out of the hanger bay. He carried a radio to be used for monitoring the Marines' progress. He walked through the tightly packed halls of the Dantrol toward his temporary cabin. The lights had been raised to full illumination, removing some of the anxiety of walking in a fairly dark space vessel. His unease was still present turning every corner, noting how sharp the turns were and how a simple ambush could be around the next turn. Disturbing stories of starship raids reminded him of the dangers inherent to working in space. Many of the United States Fleet vessels had been boarded by mysterious intruders in recent weeks. The problem had become so bad that, at minimum, one unit of Marines were assigned to each ship, whether it was a militaristic mission or not. One engagement ended in victory for the United States, with the capture of several of the raiders. Autopsies and investigations were being performed through the days to identify the attackers. Scientists in a local lab had finally identified particular elements from the raiders' vessels. These emissions were traced to a planet in Sector 112. Upon further investigation, a colony full of mercenaries and smugglers was identified on a small habitable moon named Agorax. The order was sent out in record timing to have the colony wiped out. The Dantrol was one of three vessels assigned to the task. The other two ships were already present in orbit around the planet, but the Marines aboard the Dantrol were to make the first move. The best two strike teams had been assigned the task of decimating the colonies defenses from the inside. As soon as their mission was completed, the other vessels would drop their troops and completely overtake the facility. Hayes lifted the radio to his ear and listened to the random commotion coming from the Marines' transmitters. No casualties reported, no sign of any heavy defense, it seemed as though the mission would be a total success. Hayes knew better than to expect success yet. Smuggler facilities often had half a dozen, if not more, sublevels. Their initial scans had not shown any type of sublevel, but it was a well known fact that smugglers had means of hiding from scans. Hayes turned a final corner and reached his room. The walk had been longer than he would have preferred, but he was in no position to complain. The incident on LV-229 had rocked his career as well as Commander Canter's.  
Failing to notice the low battery indicator on the screen, he tossed the radio on a table and laid down on a fold up cot. Mental images of the disaster at LV-229 raced through his head before he fell asleep. The indicator light on the radio began to blink rapidly before finally shutting off. It was of little concern to Captain Hayes, there would be other members of the Dantrol crew monitoring the progress of the mission.  
  
".really need to wake up now!"  
A heavy jolt rocked Hayes to consciousness. He looked up to see a very nervous face staring at him. He fluttered his eyes in the bright light, "What is it, Lieutenant?"  
"The mission has been compromised, we can't maintain contact with the Marine team. Commander Canter has been instructed to make an emergency drop along with the backup team from the Argo to retrieve whoever may have survived."  
Hayes began to sweat from his fear immediately, "Thank you, Lieutenant. Return to your post, I'll get to the bridge as quickly as possible."  
Without another word, Hayes followed the nervous woman out of his room, completely forgetting his apparent lack of a shirt. He reached the bridge before realizing it was unnecessary for him to be there. Cursing, he turned around and ran towards the hanger. Grabbing a field jacket, he sprinted into the hanger and directly into the Dantrol's primary dropship. He ran to the cockpit and grabbed Canter's shoulder, "No way, Commander. We're taking the Hellbird."  
"Already? We haven't had time to prep it for mission readiness yet."  
"No time like now, Sarah. She doesn't need much of anything, anyway. She's brand new, she won't have any technical problems. All I'm concerned about is piloting a completely new dropship, think you're up to the task?"  
Canter smiled and shouted, "Well shit! I'm up to it if you are, jackass!"  
Hayes smiled in return, "Then suit up, pilot."  
  
Sitting in the cockpit of a dropship no enlisted pilot had yet flown was more than slightly unnerving for both Canter and Hayes. Canter grabbed the control stick and twisted it to see how much it resisted. The controls were quite flexible, which would allow for as smooth a flight as possible.  
The Hellbird was the brainchild of forty top scientists and engineers back on Earth. Fleet had asked for a vehicle to serve double duty as a personnel transporter, but also a war vessel. The Hellbird was finally realized after six years of planning and rough construction. Its sleek and elongated hull would allow tight navigation in combat situations, yet the design was still more than capable of making quick and effortless drops on a planet. The cockpit seated two operators, a pilot and a general operations officer. In combat, the ops officer would work as a gunner as well. The style was set so the ops officer sat behind the pilot, slightly raised in much the same way twenty-first century fighter jets were designed. A narrow and cramped passage allowed entry and exit of the cockpit into the innards of the vessel, which could hold up to twenty-five Marines or a fully stocked APC. Canter and Hayes gave themselves no time to comfortably situate before dropping out of the Dantrol. Hayes shouted to his partner, "So no big deal, we're testing her a little early is all!"  
"We weren't supposed to test it until this mission was long over. Not to mention the fact that we weren't supposed to be using it for a life or death situation when we have no idea of what's going on!"  
"It's going to work now just as well as it would later, so let's hope we were going to have a successful first test run."  
"That is not helping."  
"I didn't say I was trying to help. Besides, think about it, about the situation down there. We are up against a facility that is holding superior starfighters. We wouldn't stand a chance in those ancient dropships. The Hellbird is as good a chance as we're going to get if they decide to use one of those bastards against us." Canter said nothing, keeping herself focused on the task at hand. The Hellbird quickly descending towards the planet's surface, much faster than a standard dropship. She quickly spotted the landing area and efficiently dropped the vessel down onto the ground. She put the engine of the Hellbird into an idle state and looked back towards, Hayes, "So now what?"  
  
"Move, soldier, move!"  
Gunfire rang out in loud, short bursts. Sparks flew off of the walls as bullets ricocheted off the metal walls. The clinking noise of shells hitting the floor still managed to penetrate the immense sound of random explosions, sending chills down the spine of Corporal Polner as he ran. Followed closely after him was what remained of the Marine strike team sent to overtake the facility held by the smugglers. Six marines followed their new field leader, forced into the position by the untimely death of their commanding sergeant, as he led them top what he hoped was a clear exit. The bodies of the remaining twenty-four marines were going to remain there for the time being. Followed by the seven marines was a defense force the Colonial Marines never could have expected. The frightening whine of a minigun droned on in the distance while the clicking hum of pulse rifles continued to haunt the marines' ears. Polner listened in disgust as he heard the familiar sound of bullets ripping into human flesh, driving themselves into vital organs, successfully accomplishing their fatal mission. He looked back and saw two of his troops fall. He momentarily thought to stop and attempt to save whatever he could of their bodies, but soon realized the futility in such an action. Taking a different approach to the situation, he pulled a standard grenade from his gear, pulled the pin, and verbally executed a two count. He threw the grenade blindly over his head, easily clearing his team of marines. The sound of the explosion was of little satisfaction when he recalled how many enemies had engage his team. At most, he had eliminated two or three of his trigger happy stalkers, which would only slow down the remaining twenty as they attempted to step over the bodies. Polner's heart sank when he glanced back to find he had only injured one, who stumbled from the sharp pain in his leg. The feeling was only amplified when Polner realized they had enough men to spare two soldiers to stop and help their fallen comrade. Looking down to see a completely empty ammunition indicator sent another chill down his spine. Searching his gear for spare cartridges for his rifle, he found nothing but a broken transmitter and several pieces of chewing gum. His thoughts drifted to the taste of the gum, easing his tension and allowing his mind to escape the pain from the bullets that entered his leg. As Polner fell to the ground, unable to move his leg beyond a light twitch, he thought of his family back on Earth. His eyes closed as he sensed the oncoming footsteps of the mercenary attack squad behind him. He cursed himself for ever enlisting in the service, twenty-five was no age to die at. As he slowly drifted off into a peaceful sleep, the last sound he heard was a steady stream of bullets zipping through the air above him. Bullets too repetitive for a pulse rifle, it had to be a minigun. Yet the bullets were streaming the wrong way. Polner calmly lost consciousness understanding that his backup had arrived. He knew his troops were going to be saved.  
"Polner's down, Polner's down!"  
"I heard you, get on the floor, now!"  
"What the hell are you.?"  
Private Jundas leapt to the floor as he saw the rocket launcher atop a Colonial Marine's shoulder. A streak of smoke was all Jundas saw before a brilliant flash of light and the sound of an explosion rocked the hallway he was in. He heard scream of pain coming from the wall of smoke well behind him. He heard another rocket launch before seeing two Marines sprint into the facility to recover his fallen partner, Polner. Standing up, Jundas readied his rifle and ran into the smoke. He stopped as he saw the Marines dragging Polner's lifeless body towards him. Bullet holes streaked with fresh blood covered his right leg and a small portion of his lower back. In his firmly clamped left hand, Polner held a small pack of chewing gum. Jundas gagged as he saw the package of gum covered up by a thin layer of crusted blood. The Marines dragged Polner's body out into the open air of the planet as they left the compound through a large cargo door. Jundas followed to see two dropships waiting for them. The remaining Marines of the primary strike team assembled themselves and boarded the dropship, only glancing back to their fallen comrades. Jundas looked at them in shame, feeling nothing but a strong sense of pity for his team. No Marine team had left so many people behind since some mission constantly referred to by older troops. It was a large operation that took place on LV-462, in the Hadley's Hope facility. The entire mission was maintained as 'Investigation AD: 7'. The validity of an investigation that concluded an area was completely normal is somewhat questionable when the area is put under total quarantine two weeks later. More rumors circulated even more when all of the colonists failed to return to Earth on their stated vacation dates. The general opinion held by most citizens was a total lack of concern. Those that bothered to involve themselves in the news of the Hadley's Hope facility rarely gave it a second thought. Jundas remembered an interview that was made approximately one year after the rumors of the events on LV-462 began circulating. The interview focused on a captain of a supply ship that was never given the news of the planet's quarantine. The interview itself took place over transmitted audio, no personal contact was ever made. The captain kept describing mysterious smells and sounds he had experienced while on the planet's surface. The transmission had been cut before any substantial information could be given, pressing most critics to believe the man was a fraud. The entire mission was soon held under that title, a fraud. Many believed it was a ploy by the Weyland-Yutani Corporation to generate sympathy and hopefully bring in new employees. Some believed it was a ploy by the United States government to bring in new troops to their Colonial Marine divisions. Some thought it was just another tabloid story similar to that of Roswell or the batboy. Jundas looked back to the facility again and cursed under his breath, "Fuck 'em. I got my own life to live."  
All the Marines present boarded the dropship and fired several more rockets into the gut of the facility. On the other side of the structure, the Hellbird sat as its engine hummed steadily.  
"Are they going to."  
A raspy voice on the static-filled transmitter interrupted Canter, ".all recovered. prep for take. standing. why aren't we."  
Canter stared, unblinking, at the console as its transmission continued, ".why not? Well. anyway. now. three degrees to the left! No you need to. shit! Pull back and stand by for rocket. fire. down, repeat. we are."  
The transmission abruptly ended with one last bit of intense yelling and what sounded like a missile launch. Canter grabbed the stick and lifted the Hellbird off the ground. Typically, Hayes would have objected to a sudden course of action such as this, but she heard no argument this time. She piloted the ship towards the south end of the facility and jabbed several buttons in hastened frustration. A console popped up in front of Hayes, signaling the ship's readiness for combat. Hayes pressed several buttons and charged the ventrally mounted turret on the Hellbird. As the ship cleared a large rise in the facility, they saw flaming wreckage scattered across the ground. Bodies were strewn around the metal in twisted positions, as if rag dolls had been thrown from the ship rather than humans. The sight invoked disgust for both Canter and Hayes, which quickly changing into fear as they saw the starfighters make a pass over the wreckage. Canter jammed the stick to the left and swung the Hellbird to port, giving Hayes as good a shot as he was going to get. The turret fired instantly and true, striking the closer of the starfighters with extreme intensity. The fighter began to shake violently, but remained on course, a course that was bound to change in the next second. The rhetoric prediction became true as the two starfighters altered their direction and began to fly straight for the Hellbird. Hayes took the opportunity of a straight on target and fired a missile. The immense explosion signaled a successful hit to Hayes. He smiled as the nimble fighter fell to the ground below. The Hellbird swung wildly as Canter went for a rounding pass, jolting Hayes and causing him to lose the lock on the second fighter. He swung the turret towards the ship and fired with little mercy. Sparks flew from the fighter's hull and Hayes watched in horror as the sparks began to get closer at an extremely quick velocity. The fighter had fired a missile and Hayes was now shooting it. He held the trigger down and hoped the missile would be destroyed or at least strayed from its course. His hopes died and he watched the missile ram into the aft section of the Hellbird. There was no explosion, only an extremely strong jolt and a minor case of whiplash for Canter. Hayes worried that the missile was set for a timed reaction, but it did nothing. It was of no concern how it happened this way, only that it did. Canter swung the ship again and gave Hayes another clear shot. The maneuver was successful, confirmed by the missile launch from, the Hellbird, sending the other fighter to the ground in flames.  
"I'd say we had as good a test run as possible!"  
Canter laughed wildly and screamed, "I'm buying drinks tonight you bastard!"  
Canter noticed the indication on her console's proximity radar and realized one of the dropships had been able to escape. She took the Hellbird alongside the ship and escorted it back to its carrier. Realizing it would have some spare room, she brought the Hellbird to the Turuga's hanger bay and engaged the docking procedures. As soon as the process was completed, she removed her flight helmet and wiped the tears from her eyes before Hayes could see anything.  
  
The billowing steam from the pipes worked in conjunction with the hissing from broken vales to create an atmosphere of total comfort for a creature of a particular nature. With temperatures high above those of human comfort, most animals would avoid such an area. Yet they found it relaxing after the noise and confusion caused by the day's events. Sensing the broken cryo-tubing gave the creatures a primordial sense of satisfaction. The smell of blood penetrated their brains overpowering everything else as they slowly removed themselves from the bodies of their hosts. High pitched screeching and whining filled the air, drowning out the sound of the hissing pipes. The sound of ripping flesh came soon afterwards, as the creatures began to devour what remained of their hosts. A strong instinct to eat as much as possible overcame what logical thinking they possessed at the time. As the gruesome feast ended, the creatures found various escape routes from what was their prison, broken air ducts, holes in the wall, the open door leading to the halls. A computer console nearby read:  
Warning: Cryo-stasis interrupted. Twelve pods compromised.  
  
The console changed to a crimson red pulse as it displayed a new message every few seconds:  
  
Warning: One specimen absent.  
  
Warning: Three specimens absent.  
  
Warning: Seven specimens absent.  
  
Warning: Twelve specimens absent.  
  
A pulse rifle fell to the floor as the last creature exited the room. The bloody arm of one of the mercenaries dangled gently in the air, hanging from a body that appeared to have no apparent injury. The computer console once again changed:  
  
Warning: Cryo-stasis interrupted. Twenty pods compromised.  
  
Slender snakelike legs extended from a metal encasement as a slimy noise signaled the opening of an organic object inside. The container sat next to eight others, one of which was already clearly opened. The remaining creatures quickly exited the protection of their eggs and began to escape the room as easily as their partners had only moments before. One creature climbed up the body of the mercenary towards an air duct near the ceiling. It treaded lightly as it climbed over one of its own, already secured to the face of the mercenary. It scurried away as its comrade took in air and released it, breathing for itself and its prey as it began the implantation process. The computer changed once more:  
  
Warning: Cryo-stasis interrupted. Twenty pods compromised.  
Warning: Nineteen specimens absent. 


	2. Shadows

Chapter Two: Shadows  
"How many Marines do we have left to drop?"  
"Combining all four units we brought, we have thirty-two troops. We're going to have to switch around the numbers to even things out."  
The nervous voices of Captain Hayes and Lieutenant Falkner echoed throughout the barren conference room. The tone of any talk on the command ship, Turuga, had turned to a morbid murmur following the bagging of whatever dead bodies were recovered. Bullet wounds and what appeared to be knife gashes were spread apart the bodies, spilling blood as if it were sweat. The troops carrying back one particular body were, when last seen, near the toilets vomiting after dropping the body when its arms ripped apart from its torso. The only thought on the officers' minds was how to retaliate for such a strike. Hayes and Falkner were joined by the other lieutenants of the Marine units. The Captains of the other cruisers connected to the comm system and prepared to add their thoughts to the conversation. Falkner began, "Gentlemen, Miss, we have thirty-two Marines remaining. I would not wish to send them down to that Hellhole again, but we have little choice, being members of the Colonial Marines. I was given an order and it shall be carried out."  
Lieutenant Reeds added, "My men will carry out their orders. This time they know what to expect."  
"Lieutenant," Captain Palmer began, "can we expect more resistance on a second drop?"  
"Actually, M'am, in my experience, we can expect lighter. They drove us away and now have a bit of an ego running. They won't throw as much at us."  
"Nevertheless, we should send down our full complement."  
"Agreed, Captain Hayes. We'll teach those sons of bitches not to fuck with us."  
"We need to come up with some kind of plan. We can't go in blind."  
"Already on that, sir."  
A steady voice interrupted the conversation. A young Marine walked in carrying several papers. "We managed to identify some diagrams from the facility, and we found some schematics. We've already identified several points of entry."  
Several hours later, the plan of attack was completely formed. Twenty Marines were going to drop near a rear access point and force their way inside as the remaining Marines would split up and use the environment around to distract the mercenaries. The engagement was simple, the methods of moving throughout the compound were quickly becoming the communal headache. The operation would begin at three-hundred hours.  
  
The dropships came to their arranged destinations with little trouble, discounting minor turbulence and a quick operator error. The landing skids touched down with a gentle grace that only an experienced pilot could deliver. Each dropship released its fatal cargo and prepared for emergency retraction. The operation was carefully monitored by an overhead watchdog, the Hellbird. Hayes and Canter had taken their new craft and were now standing by, waiting for any opposition for the fancy flier to crush.  
"I can't stand not seeing what exactly is going on. Normal dropships allow so much more control over these situations."  
"That's not our job this time, Sarah. Sit back and relax. If those fighter bastards show up again, we get to do our job."  
Canter appeared less than motivated by her Captain's words of encouragement, prompting Hayes to command her, "Very well, Commander. Take her down to fifty meters, but no closer. We need to be able to hunt those things down if they should take off."  
"We still won't be able to see anything from fifty up."  
"Not see, but we will be able to receive all radio communications with minimal distortion. The weather's getting shitty and it could easily fuck with our transmissions. This way, we not only hear them talking, but we get a decent view of the Southern dropship. We can keep an eye on her, just like a good mommy would."  
Canter smiled widely and looked back to her partner, "How did you know?"  
Hayes looked at her and raised an eyebrow, "I'm not an idiot, Sarah. Does Forty-Seven know yet?"  
Canter looked away and quickly thought of her husband and his antics which had earned him the nickname Forty-Seven three years ago. "No, he doesn't know yet."  
"Will it be good news or bad?"  
"I think good, he may be a bit shocked. We've talked about kids before, but I don't know if we were quite ready. Either way, it's coming very quickly."  
"I think you guys will do just fine. Randy's a good man, he'll take care of you. If he doesn't, you be sure to let me know, get me?"  
Canter laughed, "What? You going to bust his balls if he doesn't treat me like a lady? Use that shiny captain's badge and stick it to the weakling commander?"  
"On the contrary, Commander. I don't know what would ever possess him to treat you like a lady. You're more of a man than I am."  
"The banana I ate this morning is more of a man than you are."  
"Don't get jealous simply because I could get more men than you ever could."  
Canter laughed and replied, "Checkmate, dickless."  
Hayes smiled and placed his eyes back on the landscape before him. The ground was a pale brown color, even in the thick of the night. The vague sound of explosions could be made out as he pictured the marines storming the complex again, taking no prisoners until their siege ended in victory. Tiny flashes of light only confirmed that the explosions were becoming more frequent as the operation went on. Many minutes passed without a single sound or brilliant flash of light. Hayes began to fear that something had happened and the operation was going to fail. His fears were alleviated when he saw the purple flare streak up from the middle of the compound. He muttered to himself, "Let's see the red, let's see the red."  
Several tense moments passed for Hayes before another flare shot up into the dark night, this one a flaming red. Hayes and Canter began to cheer wildly as they watched the confirmation sign of success fade into the clouds. Hayes looked down with obvious joy in his eyes, "Take us down, Commander! We have some marines to congratulate!"  
  
Lieutenant Reeds and Captain Hayes watched with interest as several captured mercenaries were loaded onto a dropship for removal. This was the first exchange of three that the dropships would have to make to bring all the prisoners back to the cruisers above. The total prisoner count came to thirty-nine. As the panel of the dropship began to rise, a shout came from within the compound, "This one makes forty," a burly Marine pushed a wheeled chair with a man sitting in it, apparently quite unconscious, "we can shove him in this one. I wonder if he's drunk. Maybe we should strap him to..."  
A loud crashing noise sounded off, prompting every eye to gaze at a large dome near the East end of the facility. Several missiles streaked out and began to separate as they flew high into the atmosphere. Hayes grabbed his comm unit and began shouting, "Be warned, missiles have been launched! Execute starship defense measures!"  
His warning was soon interrupted by the sounds of explosions and screams before trickling out into static. He franticly called out, "Hello? Hello? Is there anyone up there?"  
His calls went unanswered as the grim realization set in that the cruisers had all been destroyed or so damaged they would be inoperable. The chances of survival were minimal with the ships being ready for taking in dropships rather than preparing for an assault against them. Slowly, Hayes dropped the comm as he stared blankly at the ground. He swayed from side to side as he mumbled softly before stating, "The ships are down. My guess would be total loss."  
A Marine strapping one of the mercenaries in for eventual takeoff removed his sidearm and put it straight to the man's head, "You tell me if there's any more of those coming you fucking piece of..."  
"Back down, Corporal. It's too late. We'll deliver their punishment in a different method. The dropships can't support all of us, so we'll do this my way," Lieutenant Sanders said calmly, "we'll leave them here to die after we bomb the facility until it's nothing but ash."  
"Big words, you government whore. Go fuck yourself."  
"Shut the fuck up. If you open your mouth one more time I'll stick this gun right up your ass."  
"Calm down, Corporal."  
"Yes, sir."  
Static filled the air as a voice sounded from one of the communicators, "...anyone? Can't hear... channel four. Better?"  
A dropship pilot nearby grabbed the device and shouted intently, "Much better, damage report!"  
"We didn't sustain any casualties regarding personnel. Be warned, we had to up our power to the comm system for this transmission. We're going to lose the ability to communicate if we want to make any repairs. As of now, we are unable to allow dropships to dock, we'll fix that as soon as we can. Situation on planet allows this?"  
"Affirmative, we can deal with some locked up mercenaries."  
"Can we dock with the other ships?"  
"Negative, every ship was struck there. Our thought was that the missiles were fired prematurely. They probably intended to strike us while the hanger doors were open."  
Confirmation of the officer's hypothesis was given as many of the mercenaries dropped their heads to disallow eye contact."  
The pilot muttered, "Fuckers."  
"We will work on the hanger door, it should..."  
The transmission faded into static again as the link was lost. The troops began shuffling around as they found various task to keep themselves busy for the next few hours before Lieutenant Reeds finally called out, "Well I don't know about anyone else, but I would like to spend this time indoors."  
"The mercenaries?"  
"We'll take small shifts watching them, but they can remain out here, strapped into the dropships."  
Several smirks appeared on various troopers. They began to wander inside the compound, their minds drifting to food and drink. Hayes followed them and looked back, nodding to the three Marines who remained to watch the prisoners. The cold slam of metal startled Hayes as the compound doors closed them off from the outside world.  
  
Clashing metal alerted the Marines to the restart of the local mechanical systems. Various pistons began firing, prompting the troops to investigate what had been reactivated. Three troops headed down to the sublevels to activate any remaining power grids that had been shut down by the battles before. Privates Rickson, Allio, and Tanner were ordered to charge whatever grids they could without too much trouble, and head back to the main group as quickly as possible. Allio looked to his partners and asked, "Why do I always get the shit jobs?"  
"Because the Lieutenant isn't a fucking idiot, he knows which idiots to send to the simple jobs."  
"Thanks, Dan. I'll remember that next time you get yourself in the shitter."  
"You can call me Private Rickson on duty, thank you."  
"Fuck you, Private Rickson."  
"Much better."  
"Will you two keep it civilized," Private Tanner spat out, "Let's just get this over with, all right?"  
The conversation was dually interrupted by a loud banging sound off in the distance. The Marines headed deeper into the long hallway they had now entered and focused hard to take in whatever light they could. Giving in to the darkness each turned their shoulder lamps on one after another. Allio began to raise his pulse rifle into a ready position. Confused looks from his comrades made him state, "You never know."  
Laughing, they proceeded on into the hall. Reaching a dead end after approximately seventy meters, they began looking over what they identified as the local power relay station. Flipping switches and jerking handles began to sound off loud noises in the distance as lights began to spark back to life. The long hallways they had walked down was completely lit, allowing the soldiers to see that its length served a purpose. Various pumps and activation switches covered the walls, connected by a complex series of cables and tubing. Colored bars on each switch implied similar systems that worked as one. Many of the switches appeared to already be in their respective on positions. The Marines moved down the hallway, blindly attempting to make sense of the complicated web of cables. Rickson shouted down the hall, "Hey, Allio, should we just start turning these bitches on?"  
"Beats the Hell out of me, think it would hurt?"  
"Probably, knowing our luck."  
Allio laughed and pulled one of the switches up. A heavy sound began to fill the air, reminiscent of a thick liquid gently flowing. The pumps began to shift up and down along the walls as random pipes started to quietly shift about as they filled with liquid. Seeing the success of one switch, the troops began to activate the remaining ones. More pumps began to work, filling every pipe in the room with whatever liquid the facility appeared to have a vast supply of. A quiet klaxon alerted the troops to a computer screen that indicated that the source of the liquid was jammed. Following the system of pipes became more confusing the closer they got to the other end of the long hall. Tanner looked down to see the pipes all join into one pump that connected into the wall. He looked for an opening, but found nothing. A blinking red light caught his attention, allowing him to find a button located on the pump's side. He pressed it and watched in awe as a simple bulkhead lifted, allowing him to enter on his hands and knees. He crawled through the access tunnel and found himself in a large opening. A single catwalk extended from the end of the tunnel, expanding over a huge cavity in the floor filled with a lightly glowing yellow liquid Tanner called out, "Guys, this way, come in here! Hope you're not claustrophobic!"  
Allio and Rickson found themselves on the catwalk with Tanner, staring at the enormous cavern they had discovered. They ventured further into the cavern and found themselves walking a great distance over the yellow liquid. As they walked they noticed how humid the air was getting. A pungent odor began to penetrate their senses over anything else. It became hard to breathe as the air got thicker with moisture. Drops of water fell from overhanging pipes and bulkheads, creating a steady ambient noise that slightly disturbed the peace of the cavern itself. A loud crash from behind forced the soldiers to turn around and glance behind them. A vague shape in the distance alerted them to another creature's presence. A similar noise clapped in the distance, this one from the other side of their position. Rickson listened to the world around him, noting the hissing sound that reminded him of his cat back on Earth. He heard several sounds clash together as a high pitched screech and a metallic bang filled the cavern, echoing throughout. He looked back to find a streak of blood on the catwalk, and only one of his partners remaining. He saw Allio standing with his eyes wide open, looking right at the blood. He yelled, "What the fuck just happened?"  
His question went unanswered as the blood began to appear from the back of Allio's head, dripping onto his shoulders. His body collapsed upon the walk, dangling his right arm over the edge. His pulse rifle slipped from his now lifeless hand and made a terrific splash in the liquid below. Without hesitation, Rickson crouched down and held his rifle up to his head, prepared to fire on anything that moved. A shadow danced on the wall ahead of him in a mocking tone. He fired at the wall with little hope of hitting anything. The noise of his rifle made him feel secure and powered as he faced an invisible enemy. Another bang behind him forced him to turn about and fire blindly at the catwalk. A sharp pain rippled through his back as he felt a tremendous force strike him. He threw his hand upon his shoulder and felt a deep gash leading towards his spine. He pulled his hand to his face and began to shake as he saw his own blood on his fingers. A screech again filled the air, followed by the sound of ripping flesh. A black streak flew by his face as he grabbed his left arm, feeling the deep cuts now there. He could feel the bone underneath, broken as it was.  
He began running as quickly as he could. The same forceful sting he had felt in his back now struck his legs, immediately causing him to lose balance. He toppled to the catwalk and crouched in a defensive position. Rickson became so distracted with his new wounds that he failed to notice the pair of hands slipping towards his neck from above. Screams filled the cavern as the hands quickly claimed Rickson's neck as they pulled him from the catwalk. With the last bit of his strength, he pulled the knife from his belt and began to swing it wildly in the air above his head. The screams faded into the distance as the overpowering crunch of a lifeless body being broken in half filled the expanse. The knife fell into the pool below after hitting the catwalk lightly on its way down. A small number of liquid drops followed closely. Two drops hit the catwalk, sizzling as they slowly burned their way through the durable metal.  
  
"How long have they been gone now?"  
"It doesn't matter, I'm sure they're just trying to find out what grids need to be turned on yet."  
"They've already activated the primaries, why worry about anything else?"  
"Maybe they don't know they got the primaries already, maybe they found something equally interesting, I don't know, but we don't need to worry. They would have sent a message if anything had gone wrong. Those are three good soldiers who get their jobs done."  
"If you say so. I'll be in the lab if you need anything, they've got some interesting information on biochemical weapons we may find useful for prosecution."  
Hayes walked away, only lightly considering the conversation he just concluded. His duty was to get whatever troops remained off the planet when he could, his attention did not fall on grunt work.  
Lieutenant Reeds walked back to the large cafeteria the troops had made their temporary base of operations. He looked around and took a mental tally of the personnel present. Of the units, four Lieutenants remained: Sanders, Falkner, Penning, and himself. The troops now consisted of seven Sergeants, three Corporals, and fifteen Privates. The only personnel missing from the room were the three Marines he had sent to activate whatever power grids possible and the three assigned to watch over the prisoners outside. He gently nodded to the troops and smiled to the members of his own unit. His feelings drifted towards sorrow as he thought of the many Marines who laid injured back on the cruisers. Even worse was the number of deaths that had escalated quickly in their first drop. He was glad to have whatever troops he did, filing reports for the fallen was already going to be a big enough hassle. His superiors were going to question every action they made before finally realizing they had made the mistake of sending in a strike force confident of its superiority when in fact they were outnumbered and outgunned. Any mercenary force with the capability to damage four star cruisers was well beyond an ordinary team. These mercenaries were obviously well funded ones and it was going to be a heavy investigation to figure out where all the money was coming from. Luckily, investigation was nit part of his job description. His job was to destroy whatever offensive capabilities they had in the facility, clear out the mercenaries, and let the government scientists do the research. All they had left to do was wait for the hangers to be operable again and they would all leave this Hellhole. Only one ship needed to be repaired, the troops could easily all fit inside the cruiser, it would just be a matter of back and forth retrieval procedures for the pilots. That was their job, he didn't care if it was a pain in the ass. His thoughts were answered by a frightening confirmation of his theory. The radio nearby crackled in, "...going to send the other two cruisers back. We can't fix them here, but the Dantrol and Argo are going to remain in orbit until we can bring you up safely."  
Reeds attempted to grab the radio before it was snatched away by one of the dropship pilots, he replied quickly, "Captain Palmer, we read you loud and clear. You've got support here, so long as we can get out of here quickly."  
Palmer was the captain of the Turuga. She was an intelligent woman with a small wild side that only waited to be unleashed upon some poor idiot stupid enough to attack a government battle cruiser. Reeds trusted a decision to send their support home so long as she was making it. He didn't allow himself to worry about the situation at all, two cruisers was more than enough to haul his troops back home. The prisoners may be a little cramped, but there was always plenty of room back on the planet inside one of their own prison cells. He heard the Captain's voice on the radio again, "Very good, Commander. I'll send them on their way then. Palmer out."  
The radio crackled before going quiet. Reeds looked to a clock on the wall and began shifting uncomfortably in the chair he had taken advantage of. He looked around, slightly agitated, for a few minutes before saying, "God damn it, all right, who wants to go find our lost Marines?"  
Several laughs answered him before a few random Marines lifted their hands to acknowledge the Lieutenant. He responded, "Excellent, good men. You, you, and you. Don't worry about any fucking power grids, just go get them and bring them back here. Idiots probably got lost looking for the pisser on the way back."  
Two Privates and a Corporal stood from their chairs and walked out of the room, following clearly marked signs that led to Power Station A-1. Reeds watched them leave saying, "Corporal Dyson, their lives are in your hands."  
Dyson smiled and replied, "I'll do my best to make sure they don't shit themselves before you get a hold of them."  
Reeds smiled and looked back to the table in front of him. There was nothing left to do but sit and wait. He looked up and glanced at Lieutenant Falkner who sat across from him at the table asking, "So anybody got a deck of cards?"  
  
Canter carefully twisted dials and pressed buttons to determine the status of the Hellbird. It hadn't taken any obvious damage, but that rarely meant it was completely unscathed. Hayes joined her, only momentarily glancing at the dropships that held the prisoner mercenaries. The three guards were all smoking, rifles placed atop various crates or barrels. They looked at him with both disgust and awe. It was a common occurrence to find Marines and Fleet personnel not getting along. Hayes ignored any hostility that may have been directed at him and proceeded towards the Hellbird. Canter looked to him and smiled before placing her eyes back on the control panel in front of her. He hands worked furiously at the panel to make sure the Hellbird would be ready for take off as soon as they needed to leave. Hayes walked towards the rear of the ship, doing his best to look like he was inspecting the ship. In actuality, he found the entire situation they were in to be boring. Being deserted temporarily on a strange planet was not an uncommon occurrence among dropship pilots and this was no different. His thoughts drifted to matters back home, but not enough to miss the large gash in the ship's hull. He ran his hand over it gently, feeling the jagged edges of the metal caress his fingers. The cut ran for approximately half a meter along the back side of the ship. It wasn't deep and appeared to have done little, if any, damage. He brushed his hand along the last bit of the gash and felt a sharp pain instantly flash through his body. A noise that reminded Hayes of frying bacon prompted him to sniff the air. The smell wasn't anything near bacon as he expected, rather it was a sickly smell that resembled acidic vomit. His fingers began to burn as they turned a bright red color. Hayes quickly jumped in the air out of fear, wiping his hand on the ship's hull and his own clothes. Realizing his error, he took his flight jacket off, tossed it to the ground and reached toward the dirt. He rubbed his hand in the soil until the pain subsided. Frowning, he moved to Canter and stated calmly, "I think one of the fuel routes has corroded, something's got the rear hull all fucked up. Did you see it?"  
"I didn't notice, what's wrong?"  
"A cut in the hull, looks like something ripped through it. It can't be though, there's some acid on there. Could be the alkaline injectors, smells like shit too."  
"Injectors always fail, though I thought they took those old pieces of junk off this baby. Oh well, it's an unnecessary system for what we're doing, we can let the alkaline leak out, we better just make sure it doesn't corrode any more of the hull."  
"Hey, wait a tick, Sarah. They always had this problem before, random dropships would have holes in them when the injectors leaked. They got way too close to the generator. I thought they tried to improve on it for the new models."  
"What's your point?"  
"Aren't the alkaline injectors located on the bottom of the ship near the cockpit?"  
  
"Lieutenant Reeds, sir," Dyson called, "I can't find the troops anywhere. We found the power relays, but there was no sign of them there."  
"Corporal, you obviously need to look harder, you found your way back, they should have been able to as well."  
"I'm sorry, sir. There was no indication of the way they left out of there. It was obvious they'd been down there, all kinds of switches and levers recently pulled, that type of evidence was obvious. There was no way they could have gotten out of there other than the main entrance from the utility hall."  
"Try the comms again, we need to find them before we can even consider taking off."  
Several marines scrambled around the room, activating panels and various devices. A slight urgency beckoned their actions to proceed faster than usual. The other lieutenants barked out orders in a hurried method to achieve the best results from their troops.  
  
The mercenaries eyed each other in a hushed and depressed state. They knew the rest of their lives were going to be made miserable, and being kept outside strapped inside a dropship was no way to help things along. Each made quick eye contact with another and quickly switched their gaze to another of the prisoners. Many eyes fell upon the man strapped down that appeared to be completely unconscious. There appeared to be no physical wounds on him, which prompted his comrades to question his state. As if on cue, the mercenary suddenly shifted and moaned. His eyes fluttered open and his vision returned quickly. He understood the situation almost immediately, proving himself correct as he tried to lift his arms. The heavy straps securely held him down. His first thoughts were on panic and anger. As he felt is body send him distress messages be quietly said to the man next to him, "Son of a bitch, when is the last time we ate? I'm hungry as all hell, are these assholes feeding us?"  
  
A warm substance oozed over Tanner's left eye, startling him awake. His vision cleared quickly and he looked about as much as possible. His head was completely restrained, though he could not see with what. Roaming with his eyes, he noted above all that it was dark. There was little light, only enough to see a floor and a wall off to the left. He appeared to be suspended about two meters in the air, but saw no platform below him. Frustration flooded his mind as he attempted to plant his feet on something solid and noticed their hindered movements as well. His entire body felt like it was in a cast, he could barely move, and breathing itself was even difficult. As his senses returned to him, he smelled a horrible odor everywhere around him. The same ooze that covered his eye caked his entire body, though it was much stiffer. He struggled to move only to tire himself uselessly. With heavy groans, Tanner kept shifting his weight to try and break free from the cocoon. Strained grunts echoed throughout whatever room he was in, booming back and forth between seemingly empty walls. He couldn't see anything beyond six or seven meters, filling his mind with all kinds of fantastic images of the horrors that waited in the dark beyond. A light cracking noise informed him that he had freed his head slightly. As he moved, he saw a small flash of light down below him. An oval shaped object was placed on the ground a meter away from him. It had a slight yellow tinge that dulled as it neared the top of the shape into what appeared to be a cross shaped crack. A movement to his right side caught his eye and he did his best to look to see what had occurred. Tanner was unable to describe what he saw with anything of scientific value. He noticed a black shape moving in the shadows, it appeared to be humanoid with a shiny, wet skin. The creature was gone as quickly as it appeared, leaving Tanner with thousands of questions circulating through his head. He quickly noticed the new oval shaped object that had appeared where the creature had darted away from, however. More questions began to fill his mind, but he was interrupted by a strange organic noise. A noise that sounded like the squishing of fruit bellowed in his ears as he saw the cracks on the oval shape widen until they revealed an opening into the oval. The flaps on top folded downwards, giving Tanner a full view into the object. He saw what looked like raw meat sitting in the object. A wet, pink cushion blocked any view into the oval. The layer rippled slightly, then again. He watched wide-eyed in both horror and curiosity, as the layer peeled away slowly. Two slender fingers extended from the oval, then two more, then two more. They had the same yellow tint to them as the oval itself. The fingers appeared bony and weak, like crab legs, though much longer. A total of eight fingers now extended from the oval and began to rise out until they revealed their joining point. A flat, rounded object hoisted itself from the oval with the power of those fingers. Tanner's curiosity quickly turned to fear as he noticed the tail fixed to the back of the hand-shaped object. It was a living creature, it swayed it's long, slender tail back and forth and used its fingers like spider's legs. Quicker than Tanner imagined it could, the creature jumped straight onto his chest. To his surprise, the creature remained still, not impaired by the laws of gravity. It slowly crawled up near his face. Realizing that was the only exposed part of his body, Tanner began to shake his head as much as the cocoon allowed. The creature was unimpressed by his valiant effort. The cold, bony fingers touch his cheek as it brought itself near his mouth. He screamed as loudly as he could. Startling the creature, it quickly brought itself completely over his face, covering his eyes to his mouth. The fingers wrapped themselves around his head and the slender tail around his neck. The creature's grip hurt him, but the pain was of little concern as he noticed the bonding of the creature to his face. He felt a hot liquid cover his skin directly under the creature, ensuring it could not be removed. The creature attempted to open his mouth. Rather, he felt a tube-like object attempting to force its way inside. He kept his mouth closed as much as he could, but made an instinctive attempt to gasp for oxygen. He felt the tube slide itself into his mouth, violating him in a way he found unimaginable. Choking as the tube slid down his throat, he shivered violently as he realized the tube had extended down fully through his throat. He coughed fiercely several times before losing consciousness. As the creature slid its tube down completely into Tanner's lungs, it slightly relaxed the grip it held with his fingers and tail. Two large, circular sacs located near its tail began to expand and contract as it fed its victim air. Tanner, despite his unconscious desires, was still very alive. 


	3. Ruins

Chapter 3: Ruins  
"Sir, I think we found something. There appears to be a maintenance access tunnel in this power relay station."  
"Excellent work, have we moved in?"  
"Not yet, sir. We were waiting for the word." Lieutenant raised an eyebrow, "Corporal, the word is given, get to it."  
"Yes, sir!"  
A team of Marines frantically began looking for the proper method of entering the hatch as the three Privates had earlier. It had now been an hour since their disappearance. It hadn't occurred to anyone to continue searching the relay station, it appeared to be nothing more than a dead end. It was blind luck that a Marine happened to see cracks in the wall that gave the impression of a doorway. Four troops discussed the possibilities, "There has to be a switch, I refuse to believe they would have to pry it open."  
"I don't see anything, how about you?" Nothing. It's such a small entryway, it has to be for maintenance. So maybe something has to go wrong for it to open?"  
"It's near the pump. That pump must lead to something. What can we do?"  
Three of the Marines jumped as a gunshot rang out, piercing a pipe nearby. A yellow liquid spilled out onto the floor. One soldier yelled, "Oh good work, asswipe! You really bring meaning to the term 'grunt', don't you?"  
The Marine who made the shot smiled and pointed at a blinking red light on the pump. He said coldly, "Try the button, dipshit."  
As one of the soldiers went to press the button, he readied his pulse rifle, prepared for anything. The button was easy enough to press, easily lifting the bulkhead to allow access on hands and knees. Before entering, one stood back up and asked, "Should we go in alone? For all we know, those three died in there."  
"Lieutenant gave the word, that's all I care about, get in."  
They each crawled in slowly and cautiously, aware of any possible danger ahead. Before them was a vast cavern that appeared to be an underground cave. A catwalk extended far out from the hatchway over a yellow liquid far below. One troop stated, "That's the same liquid that came out of the tube. They must use this for some sort of energy source, you think it's some kind of fuel?"  
"Not necessarily, it could just be pumped into smaller hydroelectric generators, there seems to be enough of the damn stuff to last them awhile if it was fuel though."  
"Whatever, it doesn't matter, keep moving." As the Marines pressed on, they heard the bulkhead door close behind them. The loud bang of the bulkhead falling into place signaled mixed emotions from the solders, "Shit," one stated, "it got real dark real fast in here."  
"Stop your whining, let's just find these assholes and get out of here. Caves give me the God damned creeps."  
The other three laughed lightly as they moved down the catwalk. A strange odor began to saturate the air. The catwalk made a cold, metallic sound with each boot slamming down on it. The sound echoed throughout the expansive cavern. A hole as small as the one the Marines treaded over was hardly noticeable without close inspection, but the melted edges of the metal called for attention as the soldiers moved into the darkness. Without warning, the lead Marine stopped and stood perfectly still. He stared down at the section of the catwalk in front of him, he let out a tinny groan before adding, "Fuck."  
  
As Reeds approached the pump at the end of the hall he heard several of the Marines present yelling loudly, many had their rifles held in combat positions, pointed directly at the door. He walked quickly and demanded the respect he deserved instantly, "Marines! What the Hell is going on here?"  
"Sir! Four of 'em went in there, we hear them yelling, I think they're okay, but they're running back, and we can't open the hatch!"  
"We have radio contact?"  
"Yes, sir."  
Reeds lifted his transceiver and called out, "Private Anderson, do you read?"  
"Lieutenant?"  
"Yes, Private, what the Hell is going on in there?" I don't know, sir! Just get us out, this walk is covered in blood!"  
Reeds eyes widened a little in surprise, "Did you find any of our men?"  
He didn't receive the response he hoped for, "Open the door! Now! Son of..."  
The transmission went dead. Reeds kept attempting to raise Anderson, "Anderson, do you copy? Come in, Private. Private Anderson, are you there? Report!"  
To his surprise, another trooper replied back, frantically yelling, "They just got Anderson, open the door! A red button, press the fucking red button!"  
Reeds ordered a search for the red button. He watched as his troops moved as quickly as possible to aid the survivors on the other side of the hatch. Lieutenant Reeds now distinctly heard gunfire on the other side of the door. Pulse rifle shots spattered out in a frenzy, as if his solders were facing one hundred enemies. He was relieved when a Corporal called out, "Got it!"  
The bulkhead lifted steadily. Reeds was the first to jump through, pistol in hand. As he finished crawling through, all he saw was the face of one of his Marines dragged off the walk. A trail of blood led from the dull expression to the door as bloody handprints glistened on the catwalk railing. The Lieutenant didn't have time to identify the attacker, he merely shot. After emptying his clip, he had heard a high pitched screeching noise. It was a horrible sound that sent shivers down his spine. When he realized the Private's body was still on the walk, he ran to him as quickly as possible. Reeds pulled the man up to discover his legs had been completely severed. Bloody stumps now took their place, distracting attention from the huge gashes across his chest. Reeds ran his hand over the gashes in the Private's chest and cried out as his hand began to burn. He heard a sizzling noise and noticed the Private's armor slowly melting away. He hurried to take the armor off before realizing there was no life left in the body. Empty eyes stared into the dark distance as any traces of life faded from the Private. Reeds gathered his emotions, held the bile in his stomach down, and called for his troops, "Get out of here!"  
  
"Sys-check is coming out with only minor hull damage. The injectors can't be the cause, or else we'd know about it. Something just roughed up the surface. Though I have no idea what could have done it like this, the edges are burned or something."  
Hayes explained, "Not burned, it looks melted, like somebody torched it or something."  
"I don't know and I don't really care, "Canter replied, "but it needs to get fixed before we take off. It could easily start a malfunction and send us straight to Hell."  
"Good idea, let's get it taken care of. I'm sure we can find some torches in the compound somewhere."  
Canter and Hayes walked towards the cargo door that led into the compound. As they passed the grounded dropship turned prisoner transport, they heard a gruff Private yelling for on e of the mercenaries to be quiet. Hayes asked, "Problem, Private?"  
"No, sir. Just have a mercenary complaining."  
"Complaining about what?"  
"Heartburn or some sh..., heartburn, sir."  
"Heartburn? Then get the bastard some of that pink stuff I always see in the commercials."  
"Yes, sir."  
"Unless you can't find any, then feel free to gag him."  
"Yes, sir!"  
Hayes noted the excitement in the last response and he smiled to the Marine. "Carry on, Private."  
From in the dropship, Hayes heard a loud voice shout, "I think I'll puke if I don't get something!"  
  
The body of Private Anderson fell with the loud thud onto the cafeteria table. Three Marines hastened to remove his clothes for the best medical analysis they could perform. The armor of the Marine had been slashed repeatedly, but one set of slash marks made a distinct impression on all who saw. These scrapes were lined with melted bits of the durable material that composed the armor. Small blotches of melted material dotted the area around the slashes themselves. Upon removing the armor, the Marines noted burn marks in the same pattern as the slashes that had melted through the armor. His skin left a horrific smell in the air, causing one Marine to vomit profusely. Those who could stomach it long enough managed to patch the body well enough to block most of the smell. There wasn't much to determine from the corpse. It was quite apparent the reason for death was found in the missing half of his body.  
Reeds had called a full evacuation from the site and readied his men for combat instantly. He posted two guards to watch the entrance to the cavern, but not to open it. The rest of the Marines had now taken strategic defensive points near the cafeteria and were keeping watch over the area. The event had quickly turned their period of waiting into a combat situation. He moved into the back corner of the cafeteria and approached the other Lieutenants, "Well what the Hell do we do now?"  
"What's our personnel count at?"  
"We've lost seven now, seven damned deaths that weren't necessary. We probably have some fucking mercs running around inside with laser cutters or knives. I shot one, he probably fell into that liquid below, I want to send in a team to retrieve the body. All we need is a..."  
"Lieutenant, we aren't sending a team in there until we get a heavier weapons set. I want smartguns and at least one launcher ready to go," Falkner spoke with a strong sense of leadership, "We aren't taking further risks in there."  
Lieutenant Janice Falkner felt as though the situation would soon end up on her shoulders. It wouldn't be the first time an operation had crumbled and became her responsibility to solve. She had risen to the occasion more than once in her military past and had little doubt it would happen again. One particular event had brought her to her present status. During a particularly bloody operation, her unit was ravaged by an enemy that used severely effective guerrilla tactics. It was foreign territory to the Marines, and her Lieutenant was killed in a most gruesome method. She took command instantly and led her troops to victory. The operation was a success and Falkner was immediately promoted to full Lieutenant. She was assigned her own unit and received an assignment the following month. Despite the difficulty of being the first woman to serve as a full Lieutenant, her unit quickly grew to like her, but more importantly to respect her. She demanded absolute precision and discipline from her troops, but she rewarded them equally as well.  
She had lost many troops during this operation. Each unit was composed of sixteen troops, she had lost seven. Such a number seemed small compared to the sixty-four dropped in total, but she had never suffered such a heavy loss. Her loss was small compared to the other units, however. Reeds and Penning had lost ten and eleven respectively. These numbers didn't include the various men lost in the past two hours. She could see Reeds losing his patience and professional attitude. No Marine had ever risen to the rank of Lieutenant with such an impressive record.  
Lieutenant Thomas Reeds was the officer that every other officer looked to as a professional guide. His attitude towards the job regarded the well-being of his men in a perfect balance with the objective of a mission. The soldiers under his command admired him as a commander, yet found him as a friend in their times of personal need. Superior officers waved his record in the face of new officers in training and spat at their feet telling them they would be surprised if they amounted to half the man Reeds was. His rise to command had been more typical than Falkner's. Working his life through the enlisted ranks, Reeds quickly assumed the rank of Corporal and then began Officer's Training at the recommendation of his Lieutenant. Reeds went through the schooling without trouble and was given his first mission before his unit was fully assembled. Earning the nickname Titans, Reeds's unit crushed all that stood in its path. Their operation on Agorax was testing the limits of his command, however. Reeds had lost too many good soldiers, his demeanor had become dark and cold since the second drop on the moon. Now the death of Anderson had only worsened his mood. Reeds looked off into the distance, unaware of the commotion escaping the muffled speaker of the Marine radios.  
"Lieutenant. Lieutenant!"  
Reeds jerked to his left to see Corporal Dyson staring at him, "What is it, Corporal?"  
"Word is out, sir. Sergeant Grant saw a bogey move through the halls, we're tracking. Lieutenant Penning asked if you would come with him to check it out."  
Reeds laughed, "Dyson, my boy, bogey is a dogfighting term."  
""Very well, sir," Dyson's posture stiffened, "Sir! Unidentified personnel have been found in Junction 12-A! Reporting for orders, sir!"  
Laughing again, Reeds commanded, "Very good, Corporal. Suit up, let's move this party out!"  
  
"Son of a bitch! This fucking hurts!"  
The mercenary jostled in his seat, tossing his body around as much as possible. Hayes put his hand on the man's shoulder and attempted to calm him down. He spoke caringly and with a false sense of concern for the mercenary. In truth, the captain's only goal was to end the senseless noise. The other prisoners were becoming angry and unruly, factors which could make prisoner transportation a definite problem. Hayes called to one of the guarding Marines, "Private! Do we have any narcotics, anesthetics?"  
Private Ramis replied, "We have a small bit with our medic, I can get it if..."  
"I'll take care of it, Private," Hayes said gruffly. He looked at the Marine from head to toe and noted her natural beauty. It was foolish of the lieutenants to post a woman of such beauty near a collection of rowdy prisoners. There was little time for worry at this point however. They had not made any aggressive moves in several hours, there was little reason to suspect any now. The only task at hand for the moment was calming this mercenary down. Hayes began to walk away from the prisoner briskly when he heard a horrible noise. The sound begged his attention away from the drugs, allowing him to see the patchy spots of blood that appeared all over the prisoners directly behind him. He felt sick as he watched the mercenary enter a convulsive state, foam dripping from his mouth, his eyes rolled into the back of his head, and head shaking violently. Hayes saw no blood from the man's mouth, but instead on his chest. The sound of ripping organs echoed through the dropship body, followed by what sounded like cracking. Hayes watched in horror as something pushed its way through the mercenary's shattered ribcage. A small knob began to appear from underneath the merc's skin, his chest rose in an unnatural way, and the final sounds of internal destruction followed. The knob quickly forced its way through the merc's chest and caught its first touch of air. Hayes watched, his jaw agape, unable to respond in any way. His body was frozen from both fear and amazement. The mercenary's last breath left his body as his life ended abruptly, transferred into whatever creature now rested in the cavity of the man's torso. It appeared snakelike, no visible arms or legs, no eyes, only a mouth. The mouth was what caught every eye in the dropship. Effortlessly opening and closing, the mouth fully displayed its impressive set of sharp, pointed teeth. The creature opened its mouth wide and let out a high pitched squeal that sent horrible sensations down Hayes's spine. Hayes saw a distinguished head, smooth and organic in appearance. Despite the creature's impressive collection of teeth, it was the lack of visible eyes that stunned Hayes. There were only some organic tubes that ran under where the eyes should have been. To his surprise, against the logic of the situation, the creature twisted itself and faced directly towards Hayes. Its lips, if such a term were applicable, curled up, baring the creature's long teeth. Squealing again forced a choking reaction from the creature. It forced up a surprising amount of blood from inside its body. The creature had purged itself of any ingested yet unwanted material in its stomach.  
Screaming several times, the creature gently rose from the dead man and freed itself from the gory mess. A long, slender body became visible as the creature completely emerged from the merc's body and escaped before anyone was able to stop it. A glistening trail of blood left a distinct trail on the dropship plating along the creature's path of escape. Not one sound came from any of the people present, all eyes had locked on the last bit of the blood trail leading out of the dropship. Hayes closed his mouth and looked around, taking in the events that had just transpired. He looked down and quietly addressed the expired body in the dropship, "Can we get the body out of there? Let's bag him up and get him buried. We don't bring the body, it's too much of a biohazard."  
Several of the mercenaries looked to the captain in protest of this action, but none said anything. The mercenaries looked to each other for answers to the questions swimming in their heads. Only one face stared straight forward, his eyes unmoving, his face unexpressive. Slowly he turned his head and smirked slightly before hanging his head towards the floor. He looked at the metal floor of the dropship and commented to himself, "We're fucked."  
  
Reeds turned the final corner and saw the troopers all standing in small clusters surrounding a closed set of double doors. Nodding quickly at Lieutenant Penning, he barked out, "Somebody give me a report!"  
"Sir, unidentified movement led to this room. Doors were closed by the time we got here, we have not proceeded in."  
"What's stopping you?"  
"Just give the word, sir!"  
"Word."  
Instantly, a soft hiss signaled the opening of the doors. Three troopers entered in a triangular formation, waving their rifles back and forth in the darkness. Reeds blinked as the troopers activated their shoulder lamps and illuminated the room. Reeds entered with the escort of two privates and looked around, squinting at areas with poor lighting. He saw beds, lined up like a military bay. They were not tidy, many had sheets and blankets strewn on the floor or at the foot of the bed. Something troubled him, he asked, "Why does a bay door make a hissing noise like that?"  
"Sir, the door was locked, we had to force open the locking mechanism."  
"Pressure locks? Why would you put pressure locks on the entrance to a sleeping bay?"  
He looked down the lengthy room and heard one of the marines beckon, "Sir, you're going to want to see this."  
Reeds allowed Penning to enter the room before he began walking towards the far wall. The marine looked surprised, perhaps a little frightened. Reeds quickly understood the reasoning. A large hole had been burned into the wall, the edges of the bulkhead appeared jagged and unclean. It wasn't a hole meant to be there, and that was all Reeds could establish from his initial impression. Signaling for the trooper to help him, he peered into the hole. As the marine's lamp lit the passage, Reeds's eyes opened wide and he stood up quickly. The hole led straight into an air duct. He turned quickly and yelled, "Son of a bitch, the fuckers are in the air vents. I want schematics, somebody tell me where this vent leads. I want three here, I want two with me, and I want a damn gun, now!"  
A marine gave the lieutenant a questioning look before Reeds realized he was holding his own pistol already. Reeds holstered his weapon and stated, "I want a better gun."  
The marine smiled and nodded, handing Reeds his own pulse rifle. He looked at the rifle and noticed words etched into its scratched surface. He asked the marine, "Who is Anne?"  
"Just a figment of my imagination, sir."  
Reeds unknowingly squinted in confusion at the marine's response. The trooper glanced at him again and walked away. Reeds caught a glimpse of the marine's armor and made sure to remember his name, Watts. His unit patch indicated that he was one of Sanders's troops. Quickly turning towards the open hall, he filed the information away in his brain for later, there were more important goals to accomplish.  
The metallic clang of the troopers' boots hitting the floor echoed through the cafeteria, announcing their return to Falkner. She approached Reeds and Penning asking for a report.  
"Unidentified subject moving through air ducts. That's probably how he, she, or they got the jump on our boys in that cavern. We're working on getting some schematics right now for the duct system, I want to track these bastards wherever they are. Do we have any turrets?"  
"No, we didn't think we'd need them. This wasn't supposed to be an occupation, just a grab-and-go. They're all up in storage on the cruisers."  
"Damn. Oh well, we can manage. I've posted three near the entrance to the ducts in the bay we found it in, I want to take a few more with me and move on to the control center. We know where that is, right?"  
"Affirmative, we logged the control room already, it was dead."  
"Circuitry damaged?"  
"We don't know," Falkner replied, "everything was just turned off. I felt no need to work on anything at the time. We should have been out of here hours ago as it is."  
"No kidding," Penning added, "I hate this shithole."  
Falkner looked to her troops and sent two with Reeds. He called for Dyson, who responded quickly, "Sir, yes sir, let's get us some..."  
"Lieutenant!" A nervous voice blasted down the halls, startling the marines. "Lieutenant!"  
Reeds watched with curiosity as a very frightened Captain Hayes ran towards them. He looked at Falkner and Penning, asking, "What's this all about?"  
  
Dyson swallowed hard as a bit of bile rose from his stomach into his mouth. He closed his eyes and tried not to breathe. The smell of the body had become overpowering, giving reason for Canter having the marines unload the mercenaries. They now stood, huddled together in a group, looking at the open dropship. None of the prisoners had attempted to run. Canter knew this would be the case as soon as she saw the body. Fear was now the primary reason to avoid leaving the marines. Their pulse rifles now very well stood as a sign of protection rather than lockdown. All four lieutenants now stood inside the dropship, inspecting the scene as best they could. The mercenaries heard the captain explaining the situation as best he could.  
"And then the damned thing just jumped out of him, ran away and vanished. We have no idea where it went."  
Reeds kept looking at the massive hole that had formed in the man's chest, unable to move his attention elsewhere. He heard Penning leave the ship, making slight gagging noises. Falkner stared as intently as Reeds, not saying anything. Sanders broke the silence, "It looked like a snake?"  
"No, no," Captain Hayes replied, "I don't know what the fuck it looked like, but it was shaped like a snake. With arms. It had arms."  
"It just came out of him?"  
"He started going into convulsions, like he was in a lot of pain. The thing probably had to force its way out, and look where it did it. It had to go through is lungs, maybe his heart, and even his ribcage. The thing had to force its way through his ribcage. What the fuck can do that?"  
"Something I hope we don't see again," Reeds answered.  
Their attention was drawn to shouting outside. The marines had all raised their weapons, some running away from the group of mercenaries. Falkner shouted, "Report!"  
A marine near the dropship replied, "Prisoner escape, sir! He ran from the crowd, took off towards the compound. I think we... they got him. He's down."  
"Dead?"  
"No, sir. Quite alive."  
She smiled at Reeds, "Somebody knows something."  
Reeds looked at her and asked, "How do you know?"  
"Women's intuition."  
Falkner left the dropship and approached the fallen prisoner. Sanders looked at Reeds, "Doesn't that only work with kids?"  
Reeds smiled and followed Falkner.  
Sarah Canter watched the marines disappear beyond the crowd of frightened mercenaries. The prisoner who had been so eager to make his escape was in for a serious interrogation. Lieutenant John Sanders was well known for being able to get information out of people, through whatever means he deemed necessary. A small number of black spots appeared on his military record in the fashion of misuse of weapons and unnecessary force. He never laid a hand upon his own troops, but the enemy was almost always taught a lesson when they were made prisoners of the lieutenant. The prisoner would talk, it was a question of how slurred his words would be when Sanders had finished with him.  
Canter rested her hand on her belly and gently massaged it. Her thoughts drifted to her home back on Earth, her husband, and her life in general before this mission. Everything had been easy and set forth for her. The situation was becoming foreign and frightening to her now. Her hand slowly glided up to her breast. She pushed against the ribs underneath and felt their firm integrity. Nothing should ever break those bones, she thought. Her memory faded into a gory glimpse of the creature bursting from the mercenary within the cold, sterile walls of the dropship. Biting her lower lip, she suppressed the small urge to gag and began walking away. She approached the Hellbird and gazed at the hull. Canter complimented herself on the quick yet effective repair job she had done. Two small steel plates were now welded across the back hull, sealed with a thick paste used for insulating APCs. The wounds in the hull were covered, but the mystery behind them was all that Canter could focus on. The gashes in the hull weren't caused in any battle. Weapons fire would have left deep, penetrating, and straight cuts into the hull. These were unclean and awkward slices taken from the metal. The connection to whatever thing had just emerged from within a man's chest now seemed obvious to Canter.  
Yelling in the distance beckoned for her to turn her head slightly to see Hayes walking away from the marines. His walk was uncertain and full of terror. Canter had a great deal of respect for her captain, despite their friendly bickering and derogatory comments towards one another. She often looked to him for the support she needed to accomplish a mission without trouble. Now his confidence was lost to the events taking place. His face appeared stern and frightened, as if he knew the outcome of this mission. Captain Hayes had always been an eternal optimist. For him to behave the way he was now behaving put a deep worry in Canter's mind. Things were not going to turn out well at all.  
Canter walked instinctively towards the hatch that opened into the cockpit of the Hellbird. She climbed inside and approached the primary pilot's seat. She reached over the chair and felt the cool metal on her hand from the frame of the chair. Canter slid her hand along the metal until she felt a leather case with a small strap held by a button. Unfastening the button, she pulled the contents away from the case. The pistol was light, but it would certainly protect her if it became necessary. Canter recalled the last time she had held a pistol, it had been four years ago, on one of her more dangerous missions. It had been even longer since she had fired a single shot. Despite her involvement with the United States military, Sarah Canter despised weapons. She found them to be creations designed to remove life, not prolong or protect it. It was necessary, however, for the people of Earth to defend themselves. It was now time for Canter to defend herself. She loaded the pistol with its ammunition and slipped it inside a holster attached to her flight suit. She noticed a slightly more confident step in her walk as she left the Hellbird and prepared to check over the repairs.  
  
"There's only one thing to say."  
  
"Do share."  
  
"Go fuck yourself."  
The mercenary's words rang through Reeds's ears before being overcome by the spit launched at his face. The lieutenant blinked hard and allowed the saliva to run past his eyes before opening them again. Falkner grabbed the merc by the collar and lifted him up. Reeds successfully overcame the urge to show his surprise at her physical strength. He grunted softly and turned away slightly. He looked at the group of prisoners, intent on watching the minor interrogation. The merc was completely caught off guard by the fist pounding into his chin. He fell to the ground and coughed up a small bit of blood before being jerked to his feet once again by Falkner. This time his hard gaze was met not by a fist, but by the open face of the lieutenant's pistol. Reeds said gently, "I won't ask you again."  
The mercenary merely laughed uneasily and turned his face away from Reeds. A loud crack signaled through the air, fading into the sound of the mercenary screaming. A trail of blood dripped down the shin of his left leg informed the lieutenant that he had been shot. The merc called out, "Okay, okay! Jesus fucking Christ! You fucking shot me!"  
Reeds was as surprised as the mercenary until he noticed the faint trail of smoke rising from Lieutenant Sanders's pistol. Sanders moved in close to the merc and spoke softly, "Lieutenant Reeds isn't going to put up with your shit anymore, get me?"  
He looked at Sanders's mouth out of the corner of his eye and nodded quickly. There would be no more argument from his lips. Again, Falkner lifted the man to his feet. Sanders aided her, despite his personal wishes. Reeds recovered from his minor score from the gunshot and asked again, "Now, what the fuck was that thing and what are you all doing here? Don't tell me it's some hotshot illegal ring of space fighter manufacturers. I know there's more than that going on. You're the only one who isn't scared shitless of whatever that fucking snake was. Now fucking tell me."  
The mercenary looked around and finally met the eyes of the impatient lieutenant. He quivered his lower lip quickly before forming the words he searched for. He quietly asked, "If I cooperate, will you keep that fucking gun away from me?"  
"I guarantee it."  
The officers moved the man indoors and prepared to question him away from the rest of the mercenaries. Reeds left several marines outside in case other prisoners attempted to escape. Any of their knowledge could prove to be equally valuable. They moved into a small room that appeared to be designed for quick breaks from daily routines. Reeds whistled, saying, "Quite a place you got here, impressive for a bunch of ratfucks."  
The mercenary rolled his eyes and quickly retorted, "You don't know the half of it you fucking grunt. You don't know what this place really is."  
  
"Educate me, then."  
"This compound is for the creation of starfighters. These people made them and they sold them to the highest bidder."  
  
"What are you, some technician?"  
"Hardly. I was asked to come here to check on something they found. I heard a couple of your boys stumbled into the drainage caverns?"  
"Yeah?"  
"Any of them alive?"  
Sanders shot forward, "You shut your mouth you greased-up shitstick."  
Reeds motioned for the lieutenant to sit down before asking, "Any information you'd like to share with us?"  
"Gladly. We're fucked if we don't get out of here, now. I had no idea those idiots were going to shoot your ships down, and if I did I would have told them to hold their god damned glory for another day."  
  
"Get to the fucking point," Sanders shouted, "before I finish what I started." He nodded towards the bleeding wound in the mercenary's leg.  
"Save it, meathead. I'm not one of those damned mercenaries so eager to kill you and all your men. I don't give a shit who lives and who dies.  
"Okay," Reeds sighed, "what the hell are you doing here then?"  
"Some guy your boys whacked named Donnson, he was in charge here. He was the one who got the contract to build all those damn places and send them off to some cult or something, I don't know, it doesn't matter. He had a bunch of his men work under the facility and get some sort of makeshift hanger bay going or something. I'm not exactly sure what he intended to do, but he had some big plans for some kind of underground launching area."  
"Okay."  
"Anyway, they dug straight into some huge cavern, and I mean massive. Square miles maybe, it was huge. It wasn't natural either. The walls were roughly the same degree or arc on all sides, they were made to be there and fashioned a certain way. It was dark and real, real warm down there. But whatever, he sent some boys down to find out what the fuck it was, and they never came back. Later on, a couple more went down and they found something. A couple of mounds, I guess is what they described them as. They were about a meter high and pretty oval shaped, looked leathery and pretty organic."  
Reeds raised an eyebrow, curious as to where this story was going.  
"That's when they called me. They knew it was some sort of biologic, so they sent out the word for some scientists to come check things out. Not having anything better going, I came. I wish I had known what exactly was going on, but I'm here now, so it's too late for ifs, ands, or buts."  
"You're a scientist?"  
"Yeah, a scientist. With a real education and everything. Specifically I'm a student of exobiology." He looked to Sanders and said, "That would be the study of living stuff off of Earth."  
Sanders sneered and looked toward his pistol again, eager to find a reason to pull the trigger again. Reeds said, "Continue, please."  
"Right. Well anyway, I told them I wanted to see these things, so they were going to bring a few up. Well I guess during the move, one of those things opened up and something attacked one of the soldiers. Attached itself to his face or something. I headed down there as quickly as I could and tried to take it off. We killed him doing so. The thing fucking ripped his face right off with it. Donnson ordered for further study, so I asked for a few to still be brought up. We put them in stasis lock until I had a chance to check them out. Then you people showed up."  
"What did we do?"  
"You destroyed out power relays and the stasis lock was lost. The fucking things got out. I don't know what the hell they do to anybody because I never got a chance to see them up close, but I sure as hell would bet money on a connection between that thing that popped out of that soldier and those creatures I was going to look at."  
"That thing came out of his chest, you said they attached to his face."  
"The thing that came out of his chest was nothing like what I saw on that man's face before. I don't know what exactly is going on."  
"I want three things out of you. Access to the computer libraries, because I know you have it. I also want the location of the entrance to this cavern, and finally, show me the room that held whatever you brought up from the cavern."  
"Lieutenant Reeds, is it?"  
"Yes."  
"I can do two of those, but I'll go nowhere near that stasis room."  
"Because of those things?"  
"In a word."  
"Very well, show us how to get there, we'll take care of the rest."  
"Once I give you access to the computer, you'll know everything about this place. It has maps and everything."  
"I also want to speak to this Donnson."  
"He's quite dead, Lieutenant. Your men killed him in your raid."  
"Yeah," Sanders said, "shit happens."  
Reeds quickly asked, "And your name would be?"  
"Magnuson."  
"Got a first name there, Magnuson?"  
"Magnuson will do just fine, Lieutenant."  
"Very well," Reeds stood tall and barked, "Private Haskins, Private Carpenter, please escort this man to the computer interface and have my information within twenty minutes."  
Two salutes ensured his orders were understood as Magnuson was led away by the two privates. His limp was quite obvious, but the man would easily live through the wound. They had already treated for infection and patched the wound. Sanders had been merciful, the bullet grazed the scientist's leg, not striking any bone or vital muscle. Reeds stood still for a few moments before looking towards Falkner and asking, "DO we check this cavern out?"  
"Do you have to ask?" she responded.  
Reeds grinned and looked towards Sanders laughing, "I can't believe you shot him."  
Sanders smiled in return and replied, "Oh come on now, I didn't shoot so much as... warn. He'll be fine."  
"Yeah, but I bet he'll have a few remarks to make to our superiors when he gets home."  
"So what? You think they'll side with some cash-in-hand merc?"  
"True, true. Still though, let's avoid any further shootings if possible, right?"  
"Right."  
Lieutenant Penning walked inside to and nodded to his peers. They stood still for some time before Penning broke the silence with an expected question, "So, what did he have to say?"  
  
"There, Lieutenant. Full access."  
Magnuson was moved from the interface by two privates, allowing Reeds to move in and begin working. He asked for Dyson, his favored technology buff, to access the drives. Dyson sat quickly and began working. His skill with foreign computers was well known throughout many units. Dyson had often been able to access databases encrypted with over dozens of code lines. A homemade hacking device offered efficiency and speed. Reeds was proud to have received him for a corporal in his unit. It was only a few minutes before Dyson called his superior with good news. He called up the plans to the facility and quickly relayed the information to Reeds. The stasis room was not far and the entrance to the cavern was only a small distance away. Vertically, the entrance would prove to be much farther than it seemed, but for the time, Reeds was concerned about the stasis room. He pointed to each soldier as he spoke, "Haskins, Carpenter, Ramis, you're with me. Dyson, keep going through here see what you can find. Vasil, you're with me, bring some people."  
Sergeant Dimitri Vasil was the executive trooper who normally functioned as battlefield commander under Reeds. He was a good man that got the job done. Under the present circumstances, however, Reeds had quickly implemented his own hands-on approach and gotten involved directly since the death of the privates searching for the power relays. Vasil pointed to a few marines and motioned with his hand to follow him. There was no argument from any of the other commanding personnel, they were all in this together.  
Lieutenant Penning entered the room just as Reeds was about to exit, stating, "I'm going too, can never hurt to have a few more men."  
Penning pointed at a few of his own troops to follow, then took a place behind Reeds. He looked at their small team and noted a total of eight soldiers, including Reeds and himself. Reeds nodded and moved on.  
The stasis room was two levels down. A dimly lit sign informed those present that they were on Sub-Level 2. The stairs that the soldiers had moved down appeared to extend on for quite a distance. Reeds estimated there had to be at least eight more floors below them. A pressure door opened and gave the marines access to the darkened halls. Without issuing an order, the marines behind Reeds and Penning fell into a defensive posture and moved out into the hall beyond the lieutenants. Weapons drawn, they turned on their shoulder lamps and began searching the corridor. There was absolutely no light to be found other than the random movement of the shoulder lamps. Not a single sound echoed through the empty hallway. The marines walked as quietly as possible to avoid making any noise. Private Haskins motioned with her hand and drew the lieutenants out of the stairwell. The smell was the most obvious difference Reeds noticed. There was a strong, unique smell oozing from the walls themselves. It wasn't an undesirable scent, merely one he had never experienced before. Reeds walked slowly and drew his pistol, though he maintained its position along his leg. The marines scurried about him in a vain effort to mentally map their surroundings. Doors creaked slightly as the troopers opened them to peer inside. Reeds spoke into the mouthpiece on his helmet, "Dyson, why the hell is it so dark in here?"  
A few moments of silence, then, "Magnuson says the sublevels were sealed off in case of an emergency. When we showed up, the mercs sealed all the doors and stairwells. Nobody was probably... what?"  
Reeds could hear a voice in the background, Magnuson's, speaking. He asked, "What is it, Corporal?"  
"Sir, I guess the door swings as well as locks both ways. When they sealed it off, the people on those levels were locked down there."  
"They couldn't get out?"  
"No, sir. Not according to Magnuson here."  
"When did Mr. Magnuson feel compelled to share this information with us?"  
Silence. Reeds shook his head and moved on. His radio crackled again and Dyson's voice filled the silent void, "Sir, I think I can restore power down there, just give me a couple seconds."  
A few moments passed until a loud click sounded through the hall. A hum grew as a series of bright lights began to illuminate the dark hall. Private Carpenter jumped and pointed his gun down the hall, "Did you see that?"  
"What, Private?"  
"The walls, they just god damned moved."  
"Excuse me?"  
"Sir," Vasil said, "I saw it too, something is up there. Or was."  
Reeds looked to Penning and ordered his troops forward. Carpenter and Haskins made broad sweeps along the hall to get a view of everything ahead of them. The corridor was very well lit now, allowing the marines to work more confidently. As they moved down the hall, a dripping noise in the distance held the marines' attention. Reeds watched as Haskins moved forward beyond the other troops until she stopped and looked towards the ceiling. She spoke softly, "What the fuck?"  
Reeds was eager to see what she had seen, and moved quickly to her position. As he arrived, he saw what Haskins was concerned about. The walls were covered with black material. It had a rough border along the standard, metallic hallway plating, informing Reeds that this was either not meant to be here or not completed. A transparent liquid slowly dripped from the material. Haskins brushed her hand against the wall and pulled back instantly. She looked to Reeds and said, "It's warm, really sticky too."  
Reeds put his hand against the wall. The material felt strong and sturdy, but it was covered in whatever liquid was dripping from it. A thick ooze was left on his hand after he pulled it away. He looked at the liquid and could feel it becoming hard as it contacted his skin. He began to wipe it off quickly as a soldier called out, startling him, "Sir, Lieutenant, we found the stasis room."  
"Good," Reeds replied, "Dyson, what can you tell me about the other sub-levels?"  
"Looks like most of them are just storage. In fact four through ten, they aren't even completed yet. You won't find much down there. The entrance to the cavern Magnuson was talking about is on nine though. It should be right out of the staircase."  
"Thank you, Corporal, we're going to worry about this stasis room for now."  
Reeds moved into the room and immediately noted how clean it was. It was certainly meant to be a sterile room. The room was roughly eight meters long and five meters wide. Several small cases were mounted to the wall, all opened. In the far corner, a small computer screen blinked rapidly. Carpenter moved to it and read aloud, "Warning, cryo-stasis interrupted. It says there's twenty pods compromised. Then nineteen specimens absent."  
"Twenty pods and nineteen specimens? Uh oh"  
"Uh oh sounds right, Private," Penning said.  
The soldiers began searching around the room. The room was poorly lit, making it difficult to see. Vasil brought several marines out into the hall to maintain defense, leaving Reeds, Penning, Haskins, and Carpenter in the stasis room. A high pitched scream alerted them to Haskins discovery and they quickly approached her position. She was standing near a typical office chair. Above her was an air duct opening that appeared to have been melted open, similar to the condition the wall had been in the bay upstairs. Haskins eyes were not up, but down. Reeds looked down to see a human body contorted to a horrible position. There was a large hole in his chest and a pool of blood underneath him. Reeds stared at the body saying, "Fuck. I think we know there's a connection."  
His eyes caught a faint glimmer of light off in the corner. Something was reflecting Haskins's shoulder lamp. He told her to point it in the corner and jumped back as he saw the creature there. It was a very dull yellowish color, with long, slender legs and a tail at least three times its body length. The creature was on its back, the legs curled up like a fist, and the tail in a very loose coil. The soldiers pointed their weapons at it as Carpenter prepared to lightly nudge it with his foot. He did, with no response from the creature. Penning said softly, "Whatever it is, it's dead now."  
"This must be one of the things that attached itself to the merc's face, the thing that Magnuson was talking about," Haskins said.  
Reeds nodded and said, "It must be. So what the hell? It attaches to his face and then what?"  
"There wasn't one on the merc's face in the dropship," Penning said nervously, "maybe it puts that fucking thing inside of you."  
"What?"  
"Well look. It attaches itself to your face, then it probably shoves the damn thing down your throat, into your lung or something."  
"So you get some damn snake growing inside your chest until it's ready to come out. That's fucked."  
Penning laughed and said, "Nobody said birth was pretty."  
The soldiers didn't respond to his poorly timed humor. They merely stared at the creature in the corner. Reeds's radio crackled again and the room was filled with Vasil's voice, "Sir, I think you better come see this."  
  
"Doesn't look like it belongs there."  
The grouped personnel responded with nothing but tinny breathing and awkward glances. Penning looked to the corporal and replied, "No shit, jackass. The edges are fucking melting."  
The troopers stared at the large hole in the floor. The steel grating was uncleanly cut into a circular shape, easily capable of allowing a human to fall through. Beads of moisture slowly dripped from the edges of the cold metal. After overcoming minor hesitation, Vasil quickly tapped the surface with his bare finger. Realizing it was not hot metal, he attempted to collect more of the substance. It felt cold and thick in his fingers. Grunting, he felt the liquid quickly harden and form a crust on his hand. Working with visible effort, he pulled the substance from his hand. Thin layers of skin came off with the crust, revealing the soft tissue underneath. Muttering indistinctly, Vasil stood and gently massaged his soft hand. The other troopers followed suit, taking moderately defensive stances. Penning looked to the soldiers and asked, "Advice would be greatly appreciated."  
"Let's see where it goes."  
"Fuck that, I say we get out of here now. To Hell with this, fuck stasis rooms, fuck face-sucking animals, and fuck moving walls, let's go!"  
"Moving walls?" Reeds asked, "what are you talking about?"  
"Those walls, they were all shifty before, let's get out of here."  
"Calm down, Private," Reeds replied, "I want to see where it goes. We're armed. Just... cover your face."  
  
The material covering the corridor's walls had become thicker and more intricate as the marines moved closer to the stairwell near the stasis room. Slowly, they moved down floor by floor, briefly checking to see if the hole was still apparent. They finally found the end point on Sub Level 6. The soldiers fanned out quietly, weapons drawn and should lamps fully lit. The lighting on the level was exceedingly dim, blending into the dense fog that had formed in the chokingly humid air. Severed steam pipes hissed in the darkness, drowning out any noise the soldiers made as they moved through the hall. Reeds looked around quickly and stated, "Forget it, we don't do this until I get proper lighting. Withdraw, now!"  
The soldiers closed their formation and moved back to the stairwell. With short, yet relived gasps, the soldiers began to relax as they watched the door seal them safely within the stairwell. The light from the stairwell was comforting when compared to the dark corridors of the sublevels. Penning began moving up the stairs, waving for his troops to follow. He remained in one place and patted each of the soldiers as they moves past him, including Reeds, who gave him a reassuring smile. Penning said, "It was a good idea, that place was giving me the creeps. Let's just get out of here and send a science team to check it out when we get back. We don't get paid by the hour, after all."  
Reeds laughed and lightly hit his comrade on the arm. He turned and continued up the flight of stairs. The horror of what he saw took several seconds to fully register within his brain, only allowing him enough time to react. A thick, black rope swung directly from the wall. The material that covered the wall through every sublevel they had seen suddenly began to shift and change. Reeds was able to duck under the swinging rope as it hurtled towards him. The reaction left Penning open and unprepared. A sharp pain rippled through his body as the rope quickly hit him. He looked down and saw a deep cut forming horizontally across his chest. He coughed quickly, expelling blood as the rope swung back around. He arched backwards and felt his spine give out. He watched as a large knife seemingly edged its way through his back and out his chest. He felt his body lifted from the floor before he lost consciousness. The sight of Reeds screaming to his troops was the last vision Penning's eyes would hold.  
Gunfire erupted from the soldiers closest to the area of attack. Three marines joined Reeds in filling the small stairwell with quick burst of light and hot casings tinking on the metal floor. Bullets ricocheted off the wall and made quick strides over the stairwell. Reeds began running down, following his peer as best he could. More screams from above prompted him to look above and see the soldiers firing upwards as well. Blood dribbled down the stairs, falling onto the lieutenant's face, making him nauseous. Indecipherable screams filled the air, confusing the soldiers even further. Small bits of the material along the walls began to burst open. It didn't take long for Reeds to establish a solid understanding of what was happening. The walls were not only moving, they were a cleverly disguised assailant. Yellow liquid began to spray across the stairs, spraying soldiers in various places. The pain wasn't immediate, but quickly resulted in burning and stinging feelings. Soldiers fell to the ground, still shooting, trying to grasp their arms and faces.  
Sergeant Vasil watched as one of the privates under his command was lifted straight upwards from the floor. Black arms protruding from the wall itself snatched the soldier from right before him. He shot upwards and hoped to hit his target, whatever it was. His line of sight became interrupted when a strong force struck his head. He felt immense pressure, realizing he had now been grabbed as well. Long fingers gripped him without mercy, covering his eyes and the majority of his mouth. He screamed, but found it difficult as his stomach was hit so hard he lost his breath. Blood trickled down, informing the sergeant he had been impaled. He dropped his weapon and maniacally felt the wound. It was deep, but not life threatening, at least not immediately. A glimmer of hope swept through him, until he felt the pressure on his head tighten again. He felt himself being lifted into the air. Vasil could vainly see the walls around him sinking, confirming his feeling of being lifted. The light began to fade and Vasil realized he had been taken from the stairwell. The movement was less fast paced now, but he struggled to remain awake. Tunnel vision began to cause dizziness and nausea, but Vasil remained as attentive as possible. After a short journey, he felt the pressure relieve itself and he was tossed to a cold surface. Struggling to see in the darkness, he could only hear various noises around him. A short groan signaled the presence of another human nearby, giving the sergeant hope. Again short lived, his hope faded when the same pressure grabbed his left leg. Sergeant Dimitri Vasil forced out one last scream as he felt his thigh muscles being ripped apart and the bones below crushed. His eyes fluttered a few times, giving him a quick view of an oval shaped object nearby. His energy drained from his body as quickly as the blood from his leg and he felt the coldness take him.  
  
Lieutenant Reeds's eyes gently opened, the light was bright and directly in his face. He repeatedly blinked and finally found himself able to strain enough to see around him. Several of the troops surrounded him, all watching his every move. Sensing the confusion, Lieutenant Falkner quickly asked him, "Do you remember what happened?"  
"No. Where are we?"  
"We managed to bring you back to top level, but it wasn't easy."  
"What happened?"  
The tone of urgency began to infiltrate his voice. Falkner looked away and answered, "We lost a lot of people. We managed to get you and Watts back."  
Reeds looked at the marines around him and counted a total of five. He asked, "Is this all that's left?"  
"Not quite..." she sighed, "Private Ramis is outside watching the prisoners."  
"Six. Six soldiers. Seven with me? What the fuck happened?"  
"We sent down some people to try and..."  
  
Reeds screamed, "What happened?"  
Falkner flinched heavily and looked him directly in the eye. Her gaze was piercing and informed Reeds that his question was invoking an emotional response.  
"Apparently those creatures are a bit nastier than we anticipated."  
Reeds closed his eyes, sighed heavily, and leaned back, feeling his head on the cold metal table he had been laid on. The mission was quickly turning worse every moment that passed.  
Falkner looked to Private Carpenter and instructed him to go find Captain Hayes. She looked back to Reeds, "We know a lot more about them now. We've got a couple corpses if you want to see what they are."  
"How did you find so much out?"  
  
"We've had some decent time to figure it out."  
  
"How much time? How long have I been here?"  
"It's been about eight hours since you were ambushed in that stairwell."  
"Eight hours? Son of a bitch, I need to go see these things."  
As he sat up and swung his legs over the edge of the table, he found his muscles wouldn't support his weight. Reeds fell to the floor and was quickly lifted by two soldiers. Falkner shook her head lightly and motioned to his legs. Deep cuts had been dressed and covered. He looked back to Falkner who spoke before he could ask, "They completely destroyed your leg muscles. You won't be able to walk for a long time, Tom."  
Placing his hand on his leg, he felt small, scattered burns in his skin. He remembered the yellow liquid that sprayed everywhere. He remembered the burning sensation that followed, and the eventual unconsciousness. The pain had become too overwhelming. The burn had covered most of his legs, a small portion of his arm, and his face. Reeds's hand darted to his face, he stroked the left side of his cheek up to the temple. The same scattered burns were there, deep indentations made by the burning liquid. He moved his hand upwards and felt burned skin where there used to be a healthy patch of hair. Brushing against the side of his head further back, the realization that half of his ear was no longer there surprised him more than anything. Near the back of his head, he felt more bandages. As curious as Reeds was to know what damaged had been done there as well, perhaps it was better to leave some of the shock for later. This had been taxing enough.  
Focusing on the mission at hand, Reeds knew he would be able to better adapt to the situation. His work had often been able to take his mind off of other problems. He looked to Falkner, taking his hand away from his head. "Janice, I want to talk to three of the mercs. Find me the three mercs that seem to be next in their line of command, if such a thing exists with those pricks."  
"What for?"  
"Military reinforcements won't be here for another ten days at least."  
  
"So?"  
"I want some now." 


	4. Killer Ants

_Not yet proofread or spell-checked or anything, this is more to let anybody out there know that I am still working on this._

**Chapter 4: Killer Ants**

"How many of you know just what was actually found down there? None of you? Shitty organization. We've lost several of our men to these creatures which you shiteaters uncovered in the first place. Now I want help. Here's how it goes, we'll arm any one who volunteers to help us out. Only volunteers will be taken. While I can't guarantee a damned thing, I can assure you, the courts will quickly take the word of a US soldier. I'll do my best to make sure you spend as little time, if not none at all, in prison. You'll even be upgraded to a lower security level if you have to go. I hear the food isn't too bad, good chicken. Everybody loves chicken. So, anyone?"

There was no way to successfully separate any higher ranking mercenaries from the group, so Reeds had opted to speak to them all at once anyway. He could sense the worry in the group as he hobbled out, aided by another marine. The scars and burns made it obvious that something had gone drastically wrong.

Blank stares focused themselves at Lieutenant Reeds, implying the answer he expected. Reeds turned around and ordered, "Fine, lock them up in the dropship. Close the hatch. I don't want to see any of them until we're done here."

The large group of mercenaries began shuffling toward the dropship they would soon find to be a stuffy prison. A lone man stood still, not moving from the area where they had assembled. He called out, "That thing that came out of Hawkins, is that what these things are?"

Reeds turned around with a small grin and answered, "Something like that, yes. Not exactly what you saw, though."

"Then you can count me in. Hawkins was a good guy. Nobody deserves to die like that."

"Don't feed me that shit, soldier. Why do you really want to help?"

"I'd rather not go to prison," the mercenary said with a smile, "I'd be there a long time."

Reeds nodded and gestured for a marine to go to him. The marine approached him and began to escort him away from the other prisoners. Reeds again turned away, but soon heard other voices erupt from the mass of mercenaries. Softly, he said, "You see Janice? All it takes is a little persuasion."

"You did a shitty job, Tom. Get a grip on yourself."

"Thank you, Lieutenant. Your comments are always a sunny source of joy in my life."

Despite the seriousness of the situation, Falkner let a tinny laugh escape.

In addition to the seven marines remaining, twelve mercenaries had volunteered to aid. A makeshift command center had been fully established and Reeds was preparing for a quick update to give to his troops. The mercenaries had been warned that any foul play with their firearms would lead to instant execution from any marine nearby. To further his point, Reeds stated that if any of the mercenaries betrayed the marines, they would all be let underground. With this information, a few of the mercenaries spoke out against other volunteers, dropping the final number to eight who would venture into the tunnels with the marines. The soldiers were sitting in silence by the time Reeds made his way into the room. He first addressed the dropship pilots still on the surface, "I need you all to remain with the dropships. I think the five of you should be able to watch over a bunch of chained up mercs well enough. Just shoot them if they try to get out. I don't care anymore. As for the rest of you, I hope we don't have to go back down there, we can just hold out here until the cruisers are fixed up there and then ride back to good food and hot showers."

The soldiers are nodded at the notion and felt their tensions ease a bit. It was easier to remain optimistic, it was still the middle of the day. Nighttime brought new worries.

A soldier was posted at every door leading to the command center. The emergency lights provided little comfort in the dark interior of the compound. Noises began coming from the lower levels of the compound. As much as they tried to ignore it, every person present knew what was making the noise.

It was three in the morning, and the sun wouldn't rise again until around 8am. I loud crash signaled the approach of the creatures. The soldiers headed towards a large security door and aimed their weapons. Small spotlights illuminated random parts of the door and showed several dents that had been made from the other side. Hissing and snarling could be heard, though it sounded more distant than through only the door. The soldiers all jumped as a final impact nearly brought the door down, but nothing broke through. The door was no longer secure, but it became apparent what the purpose of this action was. Screams echoed in the night air from outside.

The soldiers ran to the outside but were surprised to find their path blocked. The compound computer had detected weapon fire outside and had closed all the security doors. They were locked inside, without proper access to the computer.

The mercenaries watched in horror as more and more of the creatures scurried into the open dropships and began ripping the men straight from their restraints. Blood flowed out of the open door, spreading from the impact of footsteps and bodies that were being dragged through it. The creatures were dragging away the bodies without killing the men. The dropship pilots scrambled to fire their weapons at all the attackers, but there were too many. Canter raced to the open cockpits and released the restraints for the mercenaries. Like rats deserting a ship, the prisoners ran as quickly as they could from the ships. Pouncing shadows began taking them out one by one. As quickly as they got away from one creature, they turned a corner and found two more staring them down. Canter joined Hayes again and began firing upon the creatures. They had been making slow progress towards the cockpit of the Hellbird. It was every man for themselves now. With a final four meters to the cockpit, Hayes and Canter doubled around and ran. Canter quickly jumped in and turned to help Hayes as he lunged for the door. His eyes bulged and saliva sprayed out of his mouth. Canter screamed and watched the black knife work its way fully through Hayes. Blood began dribbling from his mouth as his eyes turned dull and lifeless. The body was flung away like a ragdoll leaving Canter staring into the face of the murder. The creature was frightening in every aspect. Black, leathery skin covered a virtually muscleless skeleton that seemed as though it was held together by wires. Its massive head protruded into the cockpit. Sarah Canter couldn't see any eyes, but she knew it was looking right at her. Its jaws opened wide and a smaller set of jaws extended forward. They slowly opened and closed, as if it were sensing the air around it. The inner jaws sprung back in the creature's mouth and it snarled loudly. A clear goo dripped from almost every point of its mouth, lined with long, sharp teeth. Canter curled into a fetal position and cried. The creature crawled inside and moved within several inches of her face. The inner jaws again extended and touched her. She felt no pain, they simply brushed against her. The pilot watched as the elongated head hovered over her entire body. It wasn't hurting her and she couldn't figure out why. The head stopped as it reached her stomach and again the inner jaws protruded. For a creature without eyes and no visible nose, this was a very smart one. She laid a hand across her stomach and began to cry, knowing it felt the presence of the life growing inside her. She screamed, "What are you waiting for? Do it already! You gonna' start feeling pity on me? Do it!"

To her surprise, the creature snarled loudly and quickly left the Hellbird's cockpit. She stared out into the night air and began hyperventilating. Something was wrong. This creature, this alien, could not be capable of pity. There was some other agenda. Something about her future baby made her different. She screamed as the alien returned, but it carried with it a large oval shaped object. The alien again left, but it had placed the object near the entrance to the cockpit. Canter watched as the top of the oval opened widely and small fingerlike objects poked their way out of the disgusting interior. She lunged towards the controls and slammed the door closed just as the creature inside the oval popped forward and landed right on the door. She could see it through the thick window. It looked like a giant hand with too many fingers. A hole directly on its underside appeared as though it served a vital purpose in this animal's existence. Canter felt safe before hearing the sizzling noise. She looked to the window and saw small holes appearing underneath the alien. The glass began to disintegrate right before her, it was melting through the window. Canter ran towards the rear of the cockpit and searched for a weapon. A lone pistol gave her hope, she grabbed it and quickly aimed at the window. The alien was gone, only a large hole remained. A small purring noise was the last thing Sarah Canter heard before seeing only darkness and feeling something in her throat.

"What the fuck is going on out there? What the hell is happening? Open this god damned door right fucking now!"

"We can't override the security measures, we aren't plugged in right now, Dyson is working on it as quickly as he can!"

"Son of a bitch!" screamed Reeds, "Tell him to hurry the fuck up!"

The screaming was becoming far less intense. This was not a sign of a lessening terror, but of less people alive to scream. Several minutes passed before the doors slid open in what seemed to take hours. The marines burst forward into a completely empty field. The dropships appeared ravaged with bits of metal lying everywhere and fuels leaking out of the fuselages. The marines fanned out and began searching inside, their small spotlights reflecting in pools of blood. Tracks from fingers being dragged through the soil were present everywhere, often leading into dark streaks of blood. Reeds was unable to breathe after seeing the massacre until he heard a voice call out, "Sir, we found someone! She looks like she's okay, unconscious, but okay!"

Reeds rushed to the cockpit of the dropship where several men were lifting out the limp body of Sarah Canter. She had some minor scrapes and bruises, but she looked to be in good health otherwise.

"Buggers must've not seen her since she was inside."

"Then why's she unconscious?"

Reeds interrupted, "It doesn't matter, look for anyone else, do not leave the light provided by the dropships. If they're out there, it's too late anyway. If you find anyone, bring them in post haste, as for her, get her inside now."

The marines rushed to look for other survivors. Two mercenaries helped carry Canter's body inside. Reeds followed them and directed them to a table within the command center.

After several minutes, the last of the marines reentered the compound and declared that no other bodies had been found. Upon Reeds's order, the outer doors were once again sealed, though none of the inhabitants really found themselves any safer. The quiet that had fallen over the compound lasted only momentarily as the large doors deeper in the complex began to rattle again. The creatures had returned.

"They're doing us all at once," Dyson stated.

"They attacked in two groups, one kept us from going outside while the other attacked all the prisoners. How smart can these bastards..."

A loud crash ended the brief conversation. The ceiling of the cafeteria that had become their command center crashed down, fluorescent lights and ceiling tiles falling all over. A large blanket of dust and smoke smothered the room, negating all visibility. As the coughing marines managed to see through the smoke, they drew back in fear. Atop the table where Canter laid was one of the creatures. It stood on four limbs, chest and head arched slightly higher in the air. It hissed loudly and snapped its jaws at empty air. Gunfire erupted from the troops as the alien grabbed Canter's body with its arms and sprung back into the ceiling. It was quickly replaced with two more of the creatures which were obviously not distracted as easily as the first had been. Bullets collided against the metal walls before making contact with one of the aliens. Its body blew apart as if it were made of tissue paper, spraying its blood everywhere. Tables and chairs began melting and disintegrating quickly, speeding up more as the second of the creatures was ripped apart by marine fire. A lone voice managed to call though the panic and noise, "Fire in the hole!"

The soldiers watched through half opened eyes as Private Jacob Carpenter let loose a single grenade from his pulse rifle. The explosion rocked the room and sent debris flying throughout the room, destroying any bit of technology still functioning. Another soldier lunged for the door controls and sighed heavily as the bulky slabs of steel slammed together, closing the intruders off. The marines remained standing as the mercenaries sat upon the ground and gathered themselves. Reeds quickly said, "What do you think this is? On your feet, we're moving."

"What?" one of the mercs called out, "You can't be serious. Where will we go?"

"Not here," Reeds replied, "that's for damn sure."

The mercenaries stood and began following the Lieutenant. They walked a few meters before Reeds turned to the group and stated, "We're going to look for Commander Canter."

Astonished faces replied to the task. Lieutenant Falkner spoke out, "Tom, she's gone. I don't think this is a good idea at all."

"She isn't dead, they didn't kill her out there and they didn't kill her in there. I want to know why."

"We're not going down there. It's too dangerous, you barely got out once, why do you want to go down there so badly?"

Knowing full well his intentions, the Lieutenant lied, "Because we need to find Canter. She's the only one that can figure out how to rig this system to get a hold of the Dantrol. Our command center is lost, we need her now."

Falkner shook her head slowly and mouthed silently _bullshit_. Reeds ignored the gesture and continued walking towards a stairwell. Falkner walked to the front of the other soldiers and held her arm in front of them. "Tom, my order stands with them right now. These soldiers are not to go into that tunnel. You are no longer in charge of this operation."

Lieutenant Reeds had hoped it wouldn't come to this. His entire being demanded that he enter those tunnels again and seek out the monster in the dark. The lust for revenge was consuming him now. It was both personal and professional. It was limited to his own experience with these creatures, yet it extended to the memories of all the soldiers that had fallen because of them as well. Still, his desire for vengeance hadn't yet completely overruled his logic. "Fine," he replied, "I'm going anyway."

Corporal Dyson yelled, "No, sir! You can't go down there!"

Reeds smiled, "You think any of us are making it out of here alive whether we go down there or not?"

After a drawn out debate over Lieutenant Reeds's decision, Falkner had finally given in and said she would not try to stop him. In a moment of frustration, she had unwittingly suggested he simply strap a bomb to himself and storm down to the lower levels and take all of them out in one fell swoop. Reeds had taken the idea to heart. A belt of grenades for his pulse rifle was strapped around his waist and another draped over a shoulder. His rifle was slug over his should and he now carried in a large case. The other marines watched as he slowly unfastened the clips and lifted the top. A thin layer of cloth lay over the bulging object underneath. As Reeds pulled the cloth away, the true nature of his journey became apparent. He pulled the six-barreled gattling gun from its case and lightly flexed his arms, feeling the weight of the weapon. His attention shifted quickly to Dyson, "Corporal, feed me through."

Dyson shook his head silently, but picked up the belt of ammunition from the case. After feeing the first few rounds through the weapon's casing, he pulled out a large pack and helped Reeds get it on his back. After some minor adjustments with straps and belts, Reeds was prepared to enter the caverns below. He turned to the remaining marines and spoke softly, "I know you all think this is crazy. Fuck, I do too. But those damn things scare the shit out of me and I haven't had my fill with them yet. I'm going down, maybe I can buy you some time. Keep working on that comm. system, maybe they'll send help, I don't know. Either way, I don't plan on leaving here. If anything else, I'm just going to run straight in there, guns blazing, and see if I can take the motherfuckers out with these babies." He patted the grenades strapped to his body as he spoke. "I'm sorry this operation went so sour. First the fucking mercs take out half our team, then these bastards show up to finish the job. I want you to watch my A/V feeds and keep an eye out for these buggers. Maybe by watching me you can find their weakness and figure out what to do, I don't really care. As long as I take a few dozen of them with me, I'll be happy. They took my hair and my ear, god damn it. My fucking ear. Do you have any idea what your balance is like with one fucking ear?"

The marines coughed up a tinny laugh before Reeds continued, "Just watch what I do, hope I figure something out. Once I'm down there, I want you all to figure out how the hell to get out of here. No more mercs to use, so it's up to you all."

"What about Commander Canter, sir?"

The question caught Reeds off guard, forgetting his original reasoning for venturing below. He responded with confidence, "If I find her, I'll help her out, but I'm staying. My score isn't settled yet."

Reeds turned and strode toward the door. The minor limp he had developed since the stairwell attack had completely receded. The pain was no concern to Reeds any longer.

"Okay, we've got his A/V feeds up, looking good, Tom."

"Video is down, check your camera."  
"No, it's just that damn dark down there."

Reeds's voice came through the transceiver, a garbled break in the radio silence, "My shoulder lamp isn't working, going to have to try the rifle light."

The monitor began to glow with a steady white spot. The light panned around quickly, with the camera following lazily. The dark, steel flooring became illuminated directly in front of Reeds. Small pieces of the creatures were scattered around the floor, remnants of the battle that had occurred a short time ago. Random gaps in the grating were painfully obvious reminders of the creatures' deadly blood that had wounded Reeds. Still, he maintained a powerful and confident pace. His radio crackled lightly in his helmet, "Tom, you're going to hit that stairwell pretty soon, you sure you want to do this?"

"Yes. Don't try and talk me down, Janice. I'm going in."

The emergency lighting, finally active in the stairwell, provided little lighting, but it was enough to help. A faint red hue swallowed up the color of everything else, creating an atmosphere Reeds was quickly becoming more hesitant to enter.

"Tom?"

The radio startled him, he snapped back to attention and began moving down the stairs. "It smells like shit in here," he responded.

He began moving down the stairs, taking in every bit of ambient noise and odor he could, searching for any clue that would alert him of the creatures' presence. After clearing three flights, the stench became more pungent. Reeds's heart began to pump rapidly, pulsing adrenaline through his system. Sudden movement caught his attention from the edge of his vision.

"Tom? Tom? Answer me, god damn it!"

Reeds's raspy voice came through the radio, his tone nervous and shaky, "I'm okay, I'm okay. It was one of those hand critters. The ones that go on your face."

"And?"

"I got it, it's dead. Fucker. Fast little bastard too. Almost got the drop on me."

Reeds moved down the stairs, startled from the small alien, but still determined to continue. His pace had slowed, the nervous sweat on his face beginning to shine in the dim light. A large sign to the left of a door caught his attention.

"Falkner?"

"Reeds."

"I think I found out where I need to go."

"How do you know? Are you at the bottom yet?"

"No, but there's a big sign that says 'Danger: Possible Biological Hazard.'"


End file.
